Reggie Burrows Hodges, who shows his paintings at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, called the award “formative, affirming and life-changing” in an email. “I am tremendously thrilled and appreciative for this opportunity to embark on new work within my practice and engage in enriching exchanges with this astounding arts community,” he wrote.
The Ellis-Beauregard Foundation began the fellowship in 2017. The fellowship is open by application to a visual artist living and working in Maine. Previous winners were Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen in 2017 and Erin Johnson in 2018.
The Rockland-based foundation is named for its founders, the artists John David Ellis and Joan Beauregard. In a statement, the foundation’s executive director, Donna McNeil, said financial support for individual artists is critical because artists are “the backbone of our cultural life. The gift of time is invaluable, and it is our hope that this award delivers some financial relief to reflect, create and thereby give back to our nation’s cultural trove.”
Hodges is a narrative figurative painter, who cites Lois Dodd among his influences. He explores identity and truth in his work, and is an adjunct professor at the Maine College of Art. He has received many residencies, including a Pace House residency in Stonington and at Monson Arts.
Jurors were Thomas Lax, associate curator of media and performance at the Museum of Modern Art, Laura Phipps, assistant curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Kate Kraczon, curator of the Bell Gallery at Brown University.