Greenville, SC – The Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) announced the recipients of the 2021-22 Brandon Fellowship at its Annual Showcase on August 6. The Fellowship is a 12-month program that aims to develop three emerging artists between the ages of 21 to 30 who represent the diversity of the Greenville visual arts community. Now in its seventh year, the program provides free studio space, a stipend for supplies, a supportive environment, mentorship, and art education, including professional development resources, to help these artists thrive in the next step of their education, career, or business.

The recipients are:

Kim Le is an alumna of the Fine Arts Center at Wade Hampton High School. She recently received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Winthrop University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Kim won the distinction of being the only student ever to have received first place in three consecutive undergraduate juried exhibitions at Winthrop University Galleries. She is a mixed media artist who uses her art to explore the abject adolescent feminine psyche. Working in a variety of mediums, her goal is to decontextualize objects of feminine consumerism to explore the “true” and “false” self as it relates to repressed violence, aggression, and abjection in the female mind. 

Sienna Patterson creates unique and expressive metal and enamel jewelry and is also a proficient watercolor and ink artist. She previously studied at the Fine Art Center at Wade Hampton High School, where she excelled in metals classes and robotics. While in high school, Sienna was selected to exhibit at Art Fields in the junior division and won several Scholastic Art and Writing awards. Her use of color is vibrant and rich, and is expressed seamlessly across all of the mediums in which she works. Sienna continues to explore mediums and ways to expand her creative expression and is driven by a desire to make art accessible and present for all populations.

Terrell Washington makes intimate paintings inspired by his dreams and what he sees in the world around him. His high-energy, colorful pieces are layered with meaning and reflect the personal, spiritual, and societal challenges he has experienced in his young life. Primarily self-taught, Terrell is a painter with a natural eye for design, composition, and color. During his senior year at Eastside High School, Terrell became a member of the National Arts Honor Society. He has also participated in Artisphere several times, where he received an Honorable Mention and two First Place awards in the student exhibition. In addition to painting, Terrell is a partner in a business where he produces unique and custom-designed T-shirts.

This year’s Brandon Fellows selection committee included chair Pamela Adams, design professional and Art in Public Places Commissioner for the City of Greenville; a photographer and member of the original Brandon Fellows class of 2016; Danielle Fontaine, artist and Brandon Fellowship Founder; Julio Hernandez, a GCCA board member and chief of staff of the Office of Hispanic Outreach for the Division of Inclusion and Equity at Clemson University; Glory Day Loflin, working artist and member of the original Brandon Fellows class of 2016; Ashley Waller, working artist and Brandon Fellows aluma from 2016-17, and Kara Bale, operations manager for GCCA who oversees the Fellowship program.

“The competition was fierce again this year and demonstrates the quality of artistic talent in Greenville,” says Kim Fabian, GCCA’s executive director. “We are delighted to welcome these artists to the GCCA family and be a part of their growth. For many of our recipients, we know this program can be the distinguishing opportunity that allows them to make a living doing the work that inspires them and enriches our community.” 

Previous Brandon Fellows alumni have gone on to become full-time working artists, designers, participants in Artisphere and other festivals, graduate students, artists-in-residence, instructors, community muralists, published artists, grant recipients, and award winners. 

An exhibition featuring the work of the 2020-21 Brandon Fellows, Anna Grace Cunningham, Evan Givens, and Savannah Ralph is on display through Sept. 22 in GCCA’s Main Gallery, which is free and open to the public Tuesday-Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

To learn more about the Brandon Fellowship, visit www.artcentergreenville.org.

About GCCA

Greenville Center for Creative Arts is a non-profit organization that aims to enrich the cultural fabric of the community through visual arts promotion, education, and inspiration. For more information, visit www.artcentergreenville.org, call 864-735-3948, or check out GCCA on Facebook (Greenville Center for Creative Arts) & Instagram (@artcentergvl).