Souto, Holz among the recipients of Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships
calendar icon11 Feb 2019
Lincoln, Neb.--The Nebraska Arts Council announced the recipients of their Individual Artist Fellowships (IAF). Six artists with ties to the School of Art, Art History & Design were among the nine artists who received IAFs.
The IAF program recognizes exemplary work by Nebraska artists. It supports originating artists in their respective fields by providing public recognition and monetary awards.
School of Art, Art History & Design Director Francisco Souto, Professor of Art Aaron Holz and Michael Villarreal (M.F.A. 2017) each received a $4,000 IAF. Ella Weber (B.F.A. 2010) and Bradley Peters (B.A. 2010) each received a $3,000 IAF. Sarah Berkeley (B.F.A. 2002) received a $1,000 IAF.
“I am honored and humbled to be recognized as one of the awardees of Nebraska Arts Council’s Individual Artist fellowship,” Souto said. “But what is even more exciting for me is to know that of the nine awardees, six of them have ties to our school. Knowing that an out-of-state panel adjudicated this award makes a clear testimony of the quality of our program and our commitment to excellence. I am so proud to be part of such a wonderful team.”
Souto was born in Venezuela and received a BFA from Herron School of Art and an MFA from The Ohio State University. His honors include more than 45 national and international awards and grants including Special prize at the 7th International Triennial of Prints in Japan, selected prize at the 12th International Biennial of Prints and Drawing in China and the International Award at the British International Print Exhibition. His work has been exhibited in more than 85 venues in the last 10 years. He joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2004 and became the Director of the School of Art, Art History & Design in 2018.
Holz received his BFA from Moorhead State University and his MFA from the University of Albany, SUNY. He joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2004 and is an associate professor of art in the School of Art, Art History & Design. His paintings have been exhibited in solo and group shows regionally, nationally and internationally and can be seen in several permanent collections.
Villarreal has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions such as Art Palace Contemporary Art Gallery in Houston and Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, Nebraska. His work has been featured in several publications, including most recently, Art Maze Magazine Issue 9. He currently teaches in the Department of Art and Design at Doane University.
Weber intentionally maintains minimum wage jobs as a means to fuel her art, both financially and conceptually. In doing so she utilizes various means to investigate the tension between consumer and viewer, performer and employee, artist and gallery. She earned a BFA from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and an MFA with distinction in printmaking from the University of Kansas. Weber has attended arts residencies at Oxbow School of Art, The Wassaic Project, Anderson Ranch, The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Signal Culture and most recently, Munson-Williams-Proctor-Arts-Institute Artists in Residence Program in Utica, New York. She has taught at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, PrattMWP College of Art and Design and is a mentor in Joslyn Art Museum’s Kent Bellows Mentorship program.
Peters received his MFA in photography from the Yale University School of Art, and his BA in art and psychology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His work is part of many public and private collections internationally and has been included in numerous publications on the subject of photography, most notably, Image Makers, Image Takers: The Essential Guide to Photography by Those in the Know by Anne-Celine Jaeger. He is the 2008 recipient of the Richard Benson Prize for Excellence in Photography, and his photographs were the subject of a recent solo show at Bard College.
Berkeley began her career as a web designer in New York City and in 2003 moved to Berlin, Germany, to pursue her art career. While there, she co-founded the Berlin Collaborative Drawing Group and discovered a passion for teaching. After three years in Berlin, she returned to the United States to prepare for graduate school. Prior to her current teaching position at Nebraska Wesleyan University, she taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Berkeley holds an MFA in art and design from the University of Michigan and a BFA with Distinction in studio art from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is the recipient of Lincoln Mayor’s Kimmel Award. She has completed residencies at The Ragdale Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, ACRE, the Cedar Point Biological Station and 8550 OHIO.