NEVADA ARTS COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE – A recipient of a Nevada Arts Council’s 2013 Artist Fellowship, Grace Hutchinson brings together the methods, rituals and emotions of six local artists in a free public workshop in her latest effort. “The Songwriter’s Voice” features local performers Whitney Myer, Knowledge, Kate Cotter, Eric Andersen, Grace Gatsby and Tyler Stafford, who will discuss songwriting, music and the music business. The workshop is 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 22, at The Studio, 1085 S. Virginia Street.
The work of musician, singer and songwriter Hutchinson may sound familiar. In 2003, she fell in love with the community’s cultural and natural landscape, and immersed herself in its arts community. Working in the administrative offices of Reno Philharmonic for six years, she reached audiences of many ages and varied styles. Now, her voice is her instrument.
“Nevada has given us the courage, means, and inspiration to awaken joy around us. I fell in love with Reno and made it my home,” Hutchinson said. “Nevada’s rich art community has made my dreams a reality.”
Hutchinson had established the art-rock band The Grace Gatsbies. Her debut album, “Strange Attractors,” was released in fall 2012. In 2008 she was named one of Reno’s top 101 most influential performing artists of the last 25 years. “I was raised in the Black Hills of South Dakota in a musical household, and began playing piano and clarinet at an early age,” she said. She trained as a classical soprano in her teens and sang in a folk band with her father, leading to nearly 200 shows and her first taste of the recording studio. At 19, she moved to Southern California, where she studied guitar, piano and vocal technique at the Musician’s Institute, but turned to Reno to sink her musical roots.
The Nevada Arts Council’s Artist Fellowship Program recognizes outstanding Nevada individual artists who demonstrate excellence in their work. “In June 2012, panelists reviewed 72 applications submitted by artists working in the literary, performing and visual arts,” said Susan Boskoff, executive director of the Arts Council. The Arts Council Board awarded six fellowships of $5,000 each: two each in literary, visual and performing arts. Nine Fellowship honorable mention awards of $500 were awarded as well.
In addition to using the grant award to produce art during the fellowship year, each fellow provides a free public event relevant to his or her discipline, through readings, exhibitions, performances, and master classes.
Information on the workshop is available at [email protected], or 775- 687-6680.
The Nevada Arts Council, a division of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, is the agency charged with ensuring that state and national funds support cultural activity and encourage participation in the arts throughout Nevada. In addition to providing hundreds of grants to arts and community-based organizations, schools, artists and local municipalities throughout the state, the Arts Council coordinates a variety of statewide programs and activities such as the annual Poetry Out Loud recitation competition for high-school aged students, traveling exhibits, artist residencies, workshops and cultural assessments. For more information, please visit the department’s website at nac.nevadaculture.org/.
