CLARKSVILLE, TN − The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA) at Austin Peay State University (APSU) has announced the 2024-25 recipient of the Tennessee Artist Fellowship, photographer Stacy Kranitz of Smithville, Tennessee.

Kranitz is a photographer based in East Tennessee known for documenting life in the Appalachian region. Through CECA’s Tennessee Artist Fellowship, she will receive $5,000 to aid in the creation of new artwork and additional funding for an artist lecture.

“Working within the documentary tradition, Stacy Kranitz makes photographs that acknowledge the limits of photographic representation,” reads Kranitz’s biography. “Her images do not tell the ‘truth’ but are honest about their inherent shortcomings, and thus reclaim these failures (exoticism, ambiguity, fetishization) as sympathetic equivalents in order to more forcefully convey the complexity and instability of the lives, places, and moments they depict.”

The CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship celebrates contemporary art to support the continued creative work of exceptional Tennessee artists like Kranitz. Unlike other fellowships, nominations and applications from artists are not solicited. A committee of APSU faculty compiles a list of outstanding artists from across the state and selects the fellowship recipient.

“Since APSU is the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts for the entire state of Tennessee, we wanted to find a way to support artists statewide,” said Barry Jones, who chaired the Department of Art and Design when the fellowship was established. “There is an incredible number of amazing artists here, but unfortunately, there isn’t much financial support for them. We hope that this fellowship helps a Tennessee artist maintain their practice and know that we support what they are doing.”

The selection committee was particularly impressed by Kranitz because of her work’s distinctive style and relevance to Tennessee.

“Stacy Kranitz’s honest, stark, and hauntingly beautiful work immediately caught the committee’s attention,” said CECA’s selection committee in a statement. “She is not just a Tennessee artist but an artist whose work speaks about Tennessee. She is an obvious choice for this fellowship.”

Kranitz will receive additional funding to present an artist lecture March 27, 2025, at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville.

Past recipients of the CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship include Maysey Craddock of Memphis, Alicia Henry of Nashville, Andrew Scott Ross of Johnson City, Bryce McCloud of Nashville, Carl E. Moore of Memphis, Benjy Russell of Dowelltown, Karen Seapker of Nashville, Ashton Ludden of Knoxville, Yancy Villa of Memphis, and Jonathan Adams of Knoxville.

For more information on the CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship, please contact Dr. Andrea Spofford, director of CECA, at spofforda@apsu.edu.

To stay informed of upcoming CECA events, including Kranitz’s upcoming artist talk, please visit www.apsu.edu/ceca or follow CECA on social media.