Merry Blessing Fellowship

Merry Blessing is the grandmother of Nina Monzo, who was an architectural student of Slobodan Dan Paich at UC Berkeley, an intern at the Artship, and made significant architectural and planning drawings used in the permit processes, grant applications, printed materials and public meetings. She was also a convener of the disabled access committee that made two levels of the ship—where the historic salons were—accessible. After graduating she became a long-term member of the Artship Board of Directors.

The fellowship is given to a practitioner in the visual or performing arts, architecture or design. It honors the potential of young individuals undertaking significant thesis research or scholarly work. Included are recent graduates, emerging artists and scholars, or practicing artists expanding into a new discipline. The fellowship also honors people who have contributed significantly while participating in Artship programing, or express concerns synergetic with Artship's values of diversity, inclusiveness and acquiring or celebrating mastery and skills. The fund covers installation or production of small projects or partial start-up for bigger initiatives. In some cases the fellowship provides short-term accommodation expenses for non-local artists while participating in Artship Programing. The Merry Blessing fellowship at the Artship Foundation began in 2000.

Mary Blessing Fellows

• 2000  Ben Troutman, sculptor
• 2001  Igor Ivan Sapic, visual artist
• 2002  Nathaniel Bolton visual artist
• 2003  Marija Krtolica, dancer, choreographer
• 2004  Hallie Rose Hunt, dancer
• 2005  Marie Perrey, accordion player
• 2006  Kheven Lee LeGrone, visual artist, emerging curator
• 2007  Catrina Kaupat, dancer, singer, actor
• 2008  Tom Franco, actor, dancer
• 2009  Ali Tabaz, singer, actor
• 2010  Alejandro Pinot, actor, storyteller
• 2011  Daniel Boord, saxophone player
• 2012  Alessandra Campoli and Martino Nicoletti, visual artists
• 2013  Nikos Brisco and Ruth Margraff, musicians, composers, writers
• 2014  Pablo Vindel Moruno, visual artist
• 2015  Eda Elodie Moreau, philosophy- consciousness studies
• 2016  Kao Ming-Hsuan, architect
• 2017  Heidi Dinkier, dancer, choreographer
• 2018  Meltem Maraican, industrial designer, exhibitions curator
• 2019 Ahmet Tolga Ayıklar, for ethnographic and musicological research and performance practice bringing Altaic and Mongolian music to contemporary culture.
Ekin Can Goksoy, for contribution to Ottoman scholarship and deeper understanding of heritage practices, literature and storytelling
• 2020  Jehsong Baak, Storytelling concepts as cinematic foundation, Continuation of non-digital photo aesthetic and technique.
• 2021  Burak Ayaz (Edi) for bringing sense of smell into expressive art field based on biological and cultural research.