Minneapolis artist who shifted to composing in midlife wins Bush grant

By Mary Hudetz, Star Tribune

Last update: June 4, 2007 - 8:20 PM

When Minneapolis composer Matthew Sawyer Smith learned he was one of 15 artists selected to receive a $50,000 fellowship from the Bush Foundation, he did what anyone would do. "I ran around the house screaming and jumping," he said.

By May 2008, three veterans within the region's arts community will be recognized with a fellowship for established artists. Though Bush grants often focus on up-and-coming or emerging talent, the $100,000 Enduring Vision fellowships will be given to three artists who each have at least 25 years of work behind them.

The foundation has been awarding more modest artist grants since 1976, but decided to add Enduring Vision after a recent study found that few grants and fellowships existed for experienced artists.

"We decided as a foundation that this was a need we could meet," program director Julie Dalgleish said. Other than the "genius grants" awarded by the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation, the new Bush fellowship will be the largest open-application award available to mature artists in the country.

The expansion of the Bush fellows program was announced at Open Book in Minneapolis Monday during a reception held to honor this year's 15 Bush Artist grant recipients, who include three composers, six literary writers, three playwrights and three filmmakers. The grants provide Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota artists who are at least 25 years old and have "exemplary talent" with a one to two-year financial safety net as they delve further into their work.

For Smith, 53, an Oberlin College graduate and former painter who shifted his focus to composing music in 1999, this means having the freedom to venture into collaborations during the next year with local choreographers. "It's exactly what I want to be doing," he said.

Mary Hudetz • 612-673-4109 • mhudetz@startribune.com

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