University of Arkansas Professor, Alumna Receive Artistic Fellowships

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Stephanie Pierce and Mary Elise Robertson

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Arts Council has announced the recipients of its fiscal year 2013 Individual Artist Fellowship awards. Among the winners are Stephanie Pierce and Mary Elise Robertson, a current professor and an alumna of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, respectively.

Pierce has been an adjunct professor with the department of art for six years and recently accepted a tenure-track position as an assistant professor of painting. Her work explores themes of abstract representation and perception, and her work has been featured in exhibitions nationally and internationally. Pierce received a bachelor of fine arts in painting and printmaking from the Art Institute of Boston and a master of fine arts in painting and drawing from the University of Washington.

Robertson is a novelist currently living in Winslow, Ark. She has served as a writer in residence at numerous universities, including the University of Arizona, the University of Utah and Syracuse University. Robertson earned a bachelor of arts in art and English at the University of Arkansas and continued her education at the University of Iowa where she recieved a master of fine arts in fiction writing. Robertson has published eight novels, including The Clearing, After Freud and What I Have to Tell You. Her short fiction has appeared in The Virginia Quarterly, New England Review, Seattle Review and Nebraska Review. 

Fellowship recipients were chosen by a jury of out-of-state professional artists, writers, performers and art administrators. This year’s categories included painting, musical composition (Western classical tradition) and novels. Three winners were selected from each category. Recipients were awarded $4,000, allowing artists set aside time to create and improve on their work.