ARTS COUNCIL HONORS FOUR ’22 FELLOWS

Four South Dakotans have been named Art Fellows by the South Dakota Arts Council. Honorees include Diana Behl, William Cedeno, Klaire Lockheart and Dalton Coffey.

The fellowship program, designed to reward artistic excellence, includes a $5,000 grant to support the artists’ current projects. The council’s grant panel does an extensive review before making decisions on the annual applicants. This year’s grantees represent both the variety and quality of art in the state.

Diana Behl, a Brookings artist, is creating a serial project titled “Line is a Thread,” a set of 28 works using traditional etchings and relief prints, drawings, collages and text-based works. Sioux Falls filmmaker Dalton Coffey is working on a full-length feature film shot in South Dakota.

William Cedeno, a musician with the South Dakota Symphony in Sioux Falls, plans to upgrade his flute with the award, a benefit not only to audiences but students in his teaching engagements.

Vermillion painter Klaire Lockheart (pictured) is working on a series called Brodalisques that humorously challenges the traditional role of women in the arts. “I invented ‘brodaslique’ as a combination of ‘bro’ with an ‘odalisque’,” she explains. “My realistic paintings of dudes in man caves permits me the ability to address the inequities women traditionally face within the art world while incorporating my sense of humor.”

She has already exhibited the series in Vermillion, Sioux City, Sioux Falls and Omaha. “Thanks to the support from the fellowship, I am looking forward to exhibiting the new artwork I create in South Dakota and nationwide.”