GCCA announces 2019/2020 Brandon Fellows

Fellowship launches artistic careers, promotes diversity


Greenville Center for Creative Arts announced the three 2019/2020 Brandon Fellows last week.

  • Nick Burns (above, left) is an up-and-coming visual artist and a Greenville native. He began his artistic journey as a performing artist at age 5 and has been teaching dance in the upstate for 13 years. In high school he started out as a street artist, drawing caricatures and custom graffiti art at farmers markets and city events. After years of training in graffiti he began creating murals for homes, businesses and communities and now has over 40 commissioned works in South Carolina. Nick is now as a visual arts educator at West Greenville school and plans to increase in artistic abilities to better serve the community and help make visual arts more attainable to less fortunate people.
  • Julius Ferguson (above, center) is a self-taught artist from Greenville. He’s not only a painter but also a storyteller who hopes to inspire others. Julius takes his life experiences and messages that he feels come from God and puts them in his paintings. Julius has been painting since 2015 and hopes to be able to for as long as his energy is needed in this world. He hopes that he can inspire the community and the world one day with his paintings that tell stories.
  • Jaz Henderson (above, right) is a native of Greer and a graduate of Claflin University where he earned a bachelor’s in digital design. His dad is an artist as well, so it can be said that art runs in the family and has therefore played a major part in his life. Jaz has always dreamed about being more involved in the arts around his city and of meeting other artists as well. When he found out that he was selected into the Brandon Fellowship, he knew this was a great opportunity for him to showcase his artwork and continue his career as an artist.

About the Brandon Fellowship

The Brandon Fellowship is a 12-month program that aims to develop three emerging artists between the age of 21-30 by providing a supportive environment, mentoring, and art education. The three main goals of the Brandon Fellowship are:

  • to help young artists launch their art career in our community or prepare for formal arts studies

  • to foster a sense of community

  • to promote diversity at GCCA

Each fellow gets an university style studio space at GCCA. Brandon Fellows must spend a minimum of 25 hours per week in the studio. They also benefit from two $250 stipends for art supplies per fellowship period. They also get:

  • dedicated tutors, assigned based on interest and medium, who will guide them during their residency,

  • access to one 6-week class per Art School session,

  • support and mentoring from neighboring studio artists at the art center,

  • to participate in group exhibitions and community events,

  • and to participate in alumni events.

Learn more about the program by going here.