Helena artist Richard Notkin receives $50,000 fellowship
Published: January 5, 2009
Helena ceramic artist Richard Notkin was recently named a United States Artists Hoi Fellow, in the category of Crafts and Traditional Arts. He was among 50 recipients of USA Fellowships for 2008 – a group of artists hailing from 21 states and ranging in age from 31 to 82.
They were chosen by panels of experts in each field, who considered the caliber and impact of their work. The artists were honored Nov. 10, in a celebration at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Chicago.
“It’s very rewarding to receive this recognition after a lifetime of commitment to my art – it feels quite wonderful,” said Notkin.
This marks the third consecutive year of the USA Fellows program, which provides direct support for artists by annually awarding 50 unrestricted grants of $50,000 to artists of all disciplines from across the country.
Notkin is the second Montana artist to receive the award. Another Helena ceramic artist, Sarah Jaeger, was named a Target Fellow in 2006 – the program’s inaugural year. The two Montana artists, who each have ties to the Archie Bray Foundation (both served on the board of directors and Jaeger was a resident artist), are among only three ceramic artists nationwide to receive the award during the program’s three-year history.
While Notkin describes this symmetry as “somewhat coincidental,” he adds, “I think that it reflects on the fact that the Bray has attracted so many artists, ceramic and otherwise, to Montana and to Helena.
“The Bray was certainly the magnet that got me to move to Montana in 1994,” he says. “Montana is a great environment for artists, as the arts community is statewide and quite supportive, with many accomplished and emerging artists who prefer not to live in New York or Los Angeles. And studio space is infinitely cheaper here, but, damn, those airfares …”
Notkin earned his bachelor of fine arts at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he studied under Ken Ferguson, and went on to receive a master of fine arts at the University of California in 1973.
Although the majority of his work consists of teapots, he takes a sculptural approach to this traditional clay vessel, transforming it into a mode of social commentary.
While paying homage to the Chinese Yixing teapot, his sculptural works often explore human folly: The Heart Teapot series examined the seeds of conflict in human culture, while his “20th Century Solutions” series offers a contemporary interpretation of themes visited by Francisco Goya two centuries ago.
He also addresses political issues in larger installations such as “The Gift,” a mural consisting of three-inch-square earthenware tiles with bas-relief images of dice and skulls. Up close, the piece resembles a scarred Mayan wall, but when viewed from afar, the image of a mushroom cloud emerges.
Notkin has won several awards, including National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowships in 1981 and 1988, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award in 1991 and a Jerry Metcalf Foundation Artist Fellowship in 1999.
He says the $50,000 USA Fellowship will help him to purchase industrial equipment and expand his studio space to accommodate the creation of large-scale ceramic tile wall murals
“This type of open financial support – in addition to the recognition – also frees some of my time to focus on new images, techniques and concepts that would otherwise be difficult to pursue,” he says.
Artists typically face two struggles, he notes: creative and financial. “When the financial struggle is eased, the creative struggle is given more freedom,” he says. “Support for artists, monetary and otherwise, is a good thing. I have always advanced my art capabilities during past grant and fellowship periods by purchasing new equipment, adding needed space, buying materials, and simply setting aside the time necessary to create.”
This year’s fellowships were awarded to a wide swath of artists, whose influences range from Pre-Raphaelite painting to hip-hop music and whose creative works arc from ancient traditions to the newest experimental forms.
Asked where he fits within this broad continuum, Notkin replies, “Hopefully in both the established and cutting edge categories. As an established artist, I hope I am not just repeating past accomplishments, but rather exploring new aesthetic territory to produce, at least within the realm of my own work, ‘cutting edge’ art. I believe that an artist should remain forever a student – there is always so much more to discover.
“The best pieces, I hope, are yet to come,” he adds. “I recently turned 60, and produced one of the most important pieces of my career. This gets me even more excited about the next series of works, and adds fuel to my commitment to my art.”
– Kristi Niemeyer
I am planning on going to Montana soon. Anything I should see??
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