2025 Brightwork Fellow
Isys Hennigar
Brightwork
Fellows
About the Brightwork Fellowship at Anchorlight
North Carolina is home to artists with incredible talent, vision, and skill. Anchorlight has created an opportunity that will provide these artists with unparalleled support in the state they call home. It is the intent of the program to demonstrate to artists living and working in North Carolina that they are valued, worthy of investment, and that the voice they bring to the cultural discourse of our state is a vital facet of North Carolina's identity. More than anything, this program intends to empower N.C. artists with the gift of time, space, and financial support to fully explore their creative potential.
The Brightwork Fellowship provides a 500+ square-foot studio space at Anchorlight, an exhibition opportunity in our gallery, and an unrestricted financial award of $50,000.00 to one North Carolina based artist per year who is at a pivotal moment in their career.
Anchorlight does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, religion, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, veteran status, medical conditions including HIV, or sensory, physical, or mental disability.
How the Fellowship Started
Founded in 2017 as a collaboration between James A. Goodnight and artist Shelley Smith, Anchorlight is home to 28 artist studios and a 1,500 square foot zero-commission gallery in addition to the Brightwork Fellowship. The first incarnation of the Brightwork program was also launched in 2017 and offered four artists per year a fully subsidized studio for one year, and a solo exhibition at the end of each artist's residency. Eleven artists participated in the program between 2017-2020. A complete list of past participating artists can be found below.
In mid-2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic the Brightwork program paused acceptance of new artists and extended the residencies of artists participating in the program at the start of the pandemic. During this time a new version of the Brightwork Fellowship was developed and in January 2022 the Fellowship relaunched under the new model with artist Precious D. Lovell as the inaugural Fellow.
2025 Brightwork Fellowship Jury
With profound gratitude, Anchorlight would like to recognize:
Linda Dallas
Linda Dallas is an artist and illustrator who has recently resumed residency in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Her vibrant watercolors are a visual investigation of sustenance. For the past 35 years she has lived in North Carolina and taught at schools and art centers across the state including Wake Technical College, Saint Augustine’s University, North Carolina State University, Meredith College, and Artspace. In 2014 Linda taught a six-week watercolor course in the Czech Republic for N. C. State University’s Prague Institute. Linda served on the City of Raleigh Public Art and Design Board from 2018-2024. She has also served on the City of Raleigh Arts Commission and the Collection Committee for the North Carolina Museum of Art. Linda is the Project Coordinator for the Envision Saint Agnes Hospital Project. Currently, she is a studio artist and freelance illustrator/textile designer. Linda has a Bachelor of Science from Howard University and a Master of Product Design from North Carolina State University.
Roger Manley
Before serving as director and curator of NC State’s Gregg Museum of Art & Design from 2010 to 2023, Roger Manley worked as a photographer, folklorist, filmmaker, and writer. He wrote and co-directed the award-winning documentary MANA—beyond belief and has curated major exhibitions for more than forty institutions, including the NC Museum of Art, the Asheville Art Museum, Duke University, the Illinois State Museum in Chicago, and the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. He lives in Durham with writer/photographer Theadora Brack.
Lia Rose Newman
Lia Rose Newman has held the position of Director/Curator of the Davidson College Art Galleries since January 2013. From 2002 to 2012, Newman was Director of Programs and Exhibitions at Artspace in Raleigh, NC. She earned a BA in Art History and a BFA in General Studio with concentrations in sculpture and photography from Winthrop University and a Master of Arts from Duke University. Newman provides leadership for the advancement of visual art at Davidson College, overseeing all administrative and operational activities of the Galleries and providing strategic vision to create an inclusive, interdisciplinary center of learning. She is responsible for curating exhibitions and developing exhibition-related programming. With specific interests in socially and politically engaged art practices, Newman’s curatorial projects have explored an array of topics, including HIV, climate catastrophe, immigration, and more. Newman is also responsible for overseeing the development and growth of the Davidson College Art Collection. Over the past ten years, she has helped the college acquire nearly 1,000 works of art, including significant sculptures and commissions focused around diversifying the collection. Newman also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Art Department, teaching a course that centers student voices in the acquisition process.