"The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the Master!" - Darth Vader Now I am the Master features the present-day work of artists and craftspeople who are past recipients of the Three Rivers Arts Festival Emerging Artist Scholarship. Artists include Daniel Baxter, Adalgisa Bosonetto, Kyle Ethan Fischer, John Flatz, Toby Fraley, Beth Gaertner, Dan Gaser, Alex Lobus, Aimee Manion, Olga Mihaylova, Maria Napoli, and Emily Reason. The exhibit is curated by the Three Rivers Arts Festival's Artists Market Coordinator Sonja Sweterlitsch. The Emerging Artist Scholarship Program grants local artists the opportunity to exhibit in the Three Rivers Arts Festival Artists Market for the first time. The scholarship provides recipients with tents, electricity, and basic display materials, and waives all fees to participate. Emerging artists are paired with experienced artist-mentors to prepare for their first outdoor show. Only six to eight artists are chosen each year to receive the scholarship. Since its inception in 2002, the Three Rivers Arts Festival's Emerging Artist Scholarship Program has been modeled by other fine art and fine craft markets across the country. Now I am the Master is the first indoor visual art exhibit exclusive to artists from the Three Rivers Arts Festival's Artists Market and features only a selection of the 50+ artists that have received the scholarship since 2002. The Emerging Artist Scholarship served as an important stepping stone for each of the twelve artists represented in the exhibit, and helped to advance their careers toward becoming the successful working artists they are today. They are represented in galleries, museums, and boutiques locally and nationally, and continue to be seen in Pittsburgh's beloved Three Rivers Arts Festival Artists Market.  Image: Over the Horizon by John Flatz. Photograph. Thumbnail image: Robot - Model 7 by Toby Atticus Fraley. Mixed Media. |
