Saint-Gaudens fellowship
The Saint-Gaudens Fellowship was created in 1978 as an annual award presented to an emerging artist practicing primarily in the United States. The Fellowship is awarded to those with an exhibition record that demonstrates exceptional talent, but who are not yet firmly established and may benefit from further recognition and financial assistance. A committee of trustees and artist advisors, including past Fellows, nominate and selects artists every spring.
Fellowship benefits
In addition to receiving a monetary grant, Fellows exhibit their work during the following year at the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire. The Fellows’ exhibitions are meant to reflect the ideals of Saint-Gaudens, who was an innovative sculptor and a mentor to emerging artists, and to enhance public interest in his life, work, and the creative process.
“Receiving the Saint-Gaudens Fellowship felt transformative. This windfall of support was helpful in immediate and pragmatic ways. Along with that came something beyond practical. I experienced an unexpected, and at first almost unconscious, sense of freedom. This feeling was like magic. After a site visit to the park, my work rapidly started to shift and open up. Ideas that had been percolating for a long time came pouring out, leading to an incredibly productive and exciting working period. This was, and continues to be, a true joy.”
–Jennifer Paige Cohen,
2019 Saint-Gaudens Fellow

Katie Bell, 2016 Fellow. Line of Play, 2020. Laminate, acrylic, wood, aluminum, rubber, drywall, solid surface, plexiglass, cue balls
2021 Fellow
Courtney M. Leonard
Courtney M. Leonard (Shinnecock, b. 1980) is an artist and filmmaker whose ongoing project BREACH incorporates installations and video work reflecting upon, documenting, and investigating Indigenous communities’ historical ties to water and marine life. Leonard’s work is in the permanent collections of the United States Art In Embassies Program, the Heard Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Newark Museum, the Mystic Seaport Museum, the Hood Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Leonard has received numerous awards, fellowships, and residencies, including those from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the Rasmuson Foundation, the United States Art In Embassies Program, and the Native Arts and Culture Foundation.
Fellows of the Saint-Gaudens Memorial
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2021
Courtney M. Leonard
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2020
No Fellowship Awarded
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2019
Jennifer Paige Cohen
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2018
Ruby Sky Stiler
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2017
Fabienne Lasserre
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2016
Katie Bell
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2015
Shellburne Thurber*
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2014
Kirsten Hassenfield
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2013
Jane Marsching
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2012
Elana Herzog
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2011
Darren Blackstone Foote
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2010
Mary Temple
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2009
Rachel Hayes
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2008
Claire Watkins
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2007
Alyson Shotz
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2006
Ann Carlson & Mary Ellen Strom
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2005
Hirsch Perlman
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2004
No Fellowship Awarded
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2003
Tara Donovan
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2002
Willie Cole
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2001
Do Ho Suh
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2000
Peter Shelton
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1999
Carlos Dorrien
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1998
Amy Hauft
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1997
Alison Saar
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1996
Judy Pfaff
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1995
Jon Kessler
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1994
Win Knowlton
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1993
Judith Shea
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1992
Jene Highstein
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1991
No Fellowship Awarded
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1990
Cameron McNall, Susan Rodgers
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1989
Kate Ericson & Mel Ziegler
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1988
Michael Gitlin
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1987
Petah Coyne
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1986
Andrew Topolski
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1985
No Fellowship Awarded
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1984
Walter Dusenbery, James M. Wolfe
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1983
Alex McFarlane
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1982
No Fellowship Awarded
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1981
Nicholas B. Edmunds
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1980
Philip Livingston
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1979
Edwin Rothfarb
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1978
Daniel Sinclair

Elana Herzog, 2012 Fellow. Romancing the Rock, 2010, Installation at Tang Museum, Sarasota Springs Metal staples, textile on Drywall