VPA graduate painter awarded $15,000 Joan Mitchell Foundation M.F.A. Grant

Jon Lee, a 2010 alumnus of the graduate painting program in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), was recently named a recipient of a $15,000 Joan Mitchell Foundation M.F.A. Grant.

The foundation established the grant program in 1997 to help master of fine arts (M.F.A.) painting and sculpture students further their artistic careers and aid in the transition from academic to professional studio work upon graduation. The grants are given in recognition of artistic quality to artists chosen from a body of candidates put forth by nominators from the academic art community across the United States. Fifteen $15,000 grants were awarded in 2010.

Lee, who also holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in printmaking from Memphis College of Art, has exhibited his work nationally, including solo exhibitions at Jay Etkin Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., with which he is affiliated. In Syracuse he recently showed work in “MFA MMX” at SUArt Galleries. He will also show work in “white elephant,” the New York City exhibition of VPA M.F.A. candidates, from June 2-6 at Dumbo Arts Center in Brooklyn. His work is included in both private and public collections.

The Joan Mitchell Foundation was established in April 1993 as a not-for-profit corporation following the death of Mitchell in October 1992. The foundation strives to fulfill the ambitions of Mitchell to aid and assist the needs of contemporary artists and to demonstrate that painting and sculpture are significant cultural necessities.