Society of Arts and Crafts hands out $25,000 scholarship

The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston selected Tennessee’s Kimberly Winkle as the winner of its John D. Mineck Furniture Fellowship, a $25,000 grant awarded annually to a young furniture artist. Winkle emerged from a pool of 44 applicants from 16 states.

“She wanted to carry out a new body of work that studied Seminole Native American patterns and we felt that it was a good balanced proposal that she had which included purchasing some tools, taking some workshops, and purchasing materials to carry out the work,” Society of Arts and Crafts exhibitions director Fabio J. Fernandez says.

The fellowship is named for the former president of the society’s board of trustees and a respected member of Boston’s cultural community. Mineck was well-known as an advocate of young furniture makers.

The foundation was formed in 2007 and has awarded an annual grant since 2009.

“For us, this is a significant prize amount in the region and in the arts field in general. We feel that for a relatively small non-profit arts organization to be able to award a $25,000 prize is pretty significant,” Fernandez adds.

Previous recipients have used the grant to pursue apprenticeships and begin startup ventures.

Contact: The Society of Arts and Crafts. Tel: 617-266-1810. www.societyofcrafts.org

This article originally appeared in the September 2014 issue.