screenshot of McKnight Fellowship announcement from MCBA website
From the MCBA announcement: (click link to see the images and statement/proposal I submitted with the fellowship application)
“Ellen and Sarah will both be awarded $25,000 in unrestricted funds to explore and deepen their art practices thanks to our partnership with the McKnight Foundation, which annually supports two exceptional Minnesota-based book artists. The pair will also receive a range of professional benefits through MCBA, including studio visits from a national critic/curator; a travel stipend, residency opportunity, and educational stipend; the opportunity to participate in an artist panel at Open Book; 24/7 studio access for two years; and a group exhibition in MCBA’s Main Gallery.
Ellen Mueller explores themes of capitalism, environmentalism, place, health, and interpersonal communication through visual and conceptual contrasts in her zines, drawing, fibers, and writing. “My work is inspired by several events and phenomena at once, and often hinges on a bizarre juxtaposition of two or more seemingly unrelated influences,” she states. “Using this approach, I challenge the binaries humans continually construct, and hope to disrupt seemingly infinite cycles.”
In Mueller’s soft books and zines, she uses self-produced or online imagery in her compositions to reflect her stance on late-stage capitalism and its effects on humanity. “I mine the ways capitalism is integral to all aspects of everyday living and decision making, from food and shelter, to clothing and energy. Absurdity and humor address this creeping influence, even if such gestures are largely symbolic.” She looks forward to deepening her connection to her practice through conversations with peers during the McKnight Fellowship.
With an emphasis on queer and transgender identity, Sarah Evenson creates hand-printed artist’s books, DIY print media, and new media. Evenson’s work reflects the physical relationship between their artistic practice—screenprinting—and their body. “It is a medium in which the pressure needed to create a print comes from the same areas of the body that were most affected by my gender-confirming mastectomy: the chest, arm, and upper back muscles. This connection between my physicality and my craft results in indexical images, works that testify to the strength of my transgender body.”
Evenson uses their work to promote accessible and community-driven book arts within its creation and distribution. They will use the McKnight Fellowship resources to develop their practice and further their reach in hopes of engaging with a larger audiences of queer and trans people across the country. “Subject-wise, my work celebrates the tenderness of human connection and positions Queerness as a practice of transformational love,” shared Evenson.
The finalists were selected by esteemed jurors Helen Hiebert, Sarah Matthews, and Catherine Alice Michaelis (bios below). They shared their impressions of the artists and their work following virtual studio visits with the finalists.
“Sarah Evenson’s innovative book work—incorporating the hand (illustration) and technology (animation and printing)—excites me,” shared Helen Hiebert. “Their poignant insights about the body, encapsulated in bright colors, bring queer joy to light.”
Catherine Alice Michaelis noted, “Ellen Mueller’s work engages the broader community as well as the artist, leaving me energized and hopeful.”
Explore the work by the 2025 McKnight Book Artist Fellows below by viewing their winning portfolios and full artist statements. Beneath that, you can also find biographical information about our jurors.
Congratulations to our 2025 fellows!“