John Gutmann Photography Fellowship
The John Gutmann Photography Fellowship was established by the internationally recognized photographer, John Gutmann. An award of $5,000 to $10,000 is awarded annually to an emerging artist in the field of creative photography, who exhibits professional accomplishment and serious artistic commitment, along with financial need.
DONOR
John Gutmann (1905-1998) was a Bay Area photographer of national repute and influence. Born in Breslau, Germany, Gutmann studied painting under the noted expressionist Otto Mueller. Because of his Jewish heritage, he was denied the opportunity to become an art professor by the Nazi-controlled government. After fleeing to San Francisco in 1933, he continued to develop his photography practice. He worked for German magazines capturing everyday scenes of American street art, The Great Depression, and the burgeoning automobile culture. Gutmann went on to influence generations of photographers as a professor at San Francisco State University from 1936-1973.
ELIGIBILITY
There is no application for this award. The Gutmann Photography Fellowship is determined by nomination only. Nominees are selected by jurors who have been appointed by John Gutmann. Only applicants who are nominated will be considered.
2012 AWARDEE
Penelope Umbrico has exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally, and her work is in the permanent collections of the Guggenheim Museum, NY; Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Museum of Modern Art, NY; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. Her photo-based installations, video, and digital media works explore the ever-increasing production and consumption of images on the Internet. She is the recipient of numerous awards including most recently a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, and a Deutsche Bank-NYFA Fellowship.
2012 JURY
Jim Goldberg is a professor of art at the California College of Arts and a member of Magnum Photos. He has been exhibiting for over 30 years and his innovative use of image and text make him a landmark photographer. Goldberg’s current project, Open See (2003-present) focuses on migration, refugees, and human trafficking in Europe. He has served on the Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award jury panel since 2009.
Marvin Heiferman has curated exhibitions and written and published books on art, photography, and visual culture for cultural institutions over the past thirty years. He gave John Gutmann his first exhibition in New York at Light Gallery in 1974 and went on the represent Gutmann’s work at Castelli Gallery from 1975-82. Heiferman is currently developing a five-year program of online projects for the newly formed Smithsonian Photographic Initiative. He is a Core Faculty member at ICP/Bard MFA program in Advanced Photographic Studies and Adjunct professor at The School of Visual Arts, New York, MFA Program in Photography and Related Media. He has served on the Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award jury panel since its inception in 2000.
Richard Misrach has spent most of his career photographing the American desert and is one of this century’s most internationally acclaimed photographers. His photographs are in over 50 major institutions including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Musee d’Art Moderne of Paris. He is the recipient of numerous awards including four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has served on the Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award jury panel since its inception in 2000.
Sandra S. Phillips is senior curator of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Dr. Phillips met John Gutmann upon her arrival in San Francisco in 1987 and curated a retrospective exhibition, John Gutmann: Beyond the Document at SFMOMA in 1989. At SFMOMA she has been responsible for organizing numerous exhibitions, including the critically acclaimed, Diane Arbus. In addition to her curatorial duties she has authored or coauthored exhibition catalogues and journals, and teaches and lectures extensively. She has served on the Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award jury panel since its inception in 2000.
Leland Rice is a curator and founder of the photography department at the California College of Arts. A respected artist, teacher, and collector, Rice has also curated major museum exhibitions with publications of photography by Herbert Bayer, Frederick Sommer, and Frances Benjamin Johnston. He has served on the Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award jury panel since its inception in 2000.
Learn more about our previous awardees, and for more information about the Art Awards Program at The San Francisco Foundation, please contact us at 415.733.8500 or email us.