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Three Charlotte-area creative artists are among 18 to receive $10,000 fellowships from the N.C. Arts Council.
"Fellowships are a tangible acknowledgement of the important work that artists create in our communities," said Mary Regan, the council's executive director, in a statement. "Artists enhance our culture and enliven our economy. They deserve acclaim and affirmation for the positive impact they make in the lives of North Carolinians."
More than 500 visual artists, writers, musicians and others have received the awards since the annual program began in 1980. This year's Charlotte-area recipients are:
David Crowe, a Charlotte composer, conductor and teacher. Crowe's works have been performed by the Charlotte Symphony, Carolina Voices and other groups. The orchestra has played his "Mill Village: A Piedmont Rhapsody," a multimedia work inspired by the textile-industry history, in N.C., S.C. and Virginia. The new Bechtler Museum of Modern Art has commissioned Crowe to write a piece for its opening.
Brenda Flanagan, a Davidson fiction writer and poet. Flanagan, a native of Trinidad, is a professor of English at Davidson College. Her stories and poetry have appeared in an array of literary journals, and she's writing a nonfiction book about the N.C.-born singer Nina Simone. Flanagan often serves as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State.
Tamara Titus, a Charlotte fiction writer. A recent winner in the Author's Contest sponsored by The Writers' Workshop of Asheville, Titus is writing a novel set in the Carville leprosy hospital in Louisiana in the early 1900s.
Another winner with past ties to Charlotte: novelist Joseph Bathanti, a professor of creative writing at Appalachian State University. Bathanti taught at Mitchell Community College in Statesville and Central Piedmont Community College.
The N.C. arts council gives fellowships on a two-year cycle. This year's awards went to writers and musicians. Next year's will go to visual and craft artists, choreographers and film and video artists. Applications are open until Monday. Details: www.ncarts.org.
