Joseph Ostraff, a professor of visual arts at Brigham Young University, has been awarded $10,000 for visual arts excellence by the Utah Arts Council. He will be recognized, together with the other 2011 arts fellowship recipients, in an exhibition that will open at the Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City in March 2011.
“Ostraff’s work is frequently a still photograph, but as he adds motion and sound, his work comes alive,” said juror Jon Stuart, who selected the 2010 fellowship awards. “Stepping around and outside the conventions of motion and across the still barriers of less fluid cameras gives Ostraff’s work interest.”
His work includes photos and audio records of friends and relatives who were asked to introduce themselves by name and to communicate any knowledge they felt comfortable sharing. According to Ostraff, this technique connects his viewers with a broad and varied demographic representing the diversity that makes up our national community.
Ostraff earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from BYU and his MFA in painting from the University of Washington.
Founded in 1889, the Utah Arts Council, a division of the Utah Department of Community and Culture, awards two fellowships annually to Utah visual artists. The award recognizes, encourages and promotes excellence among Utah visual artists.
For more information, contact Joseph Ostraff at (801) 422-3492, visit www.artsandmuseums.utah.gov or contact Lila Abersold at (801) 533-3581 or labersold@utah.gov.
Writer: Ricardo Castro
