International Waiblinger Paper Art Scholarship

• Scholarship program for young paper artists
• Established artist Katrin Ströbel as mentor
• Accompanied creative phase and exhibitions in the gallery and camera office cellar
• Financed from the estate of Renate Reichert to the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation

The city of Waiblingen will award the scholarship for drawing and paper art for the first time in 2023. The first work phase of the International Waiblingen Paper Art Grant will take place from July 1 to October 8, 2023. It is made possible with the support of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation through an inheritance from Renate Reichert to the foundation. The nationwide unique, cross-generational project will take place every two years.

An established artist receives a scholarship to work together with other young scholarship holders in Waiblingen and to support them in their artistic development. The young talent scholarship is advertised nationally and internationally and awarded by a specialist jury. After a four-week work phase, the works will be exhibited in the Stihl gallery in Waiblingen and in the gallery in the Kameralamt.

The Mayor of Waiblingen, Sebastian Wolf, is enthusiastic about the project: “I am really looking forward to the first grant from the city of Waiblingen for drawing and paper art. Waiblingen is thus breaking new ground in the promotion of artists and is becoming the international meeting place for contemporary art from and on paper. I would like to thank the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation for the support. It makes it possible to launch this project, which is unique in Germany.”

Michael von Winning, CEO of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, is also very impressed: "We are very pleased that the city is launching the paper art scholarship. Ms. Reichert designated the funds to the promotion of young artists - with this project we will honor her memory together with the city of Waiblingen. We are excited to see the results.”

The internationally working artist Katrin Ströbel, born in 1974, was the first established artist to be selected for the paper art grant from the city of Waiblingen. Trained at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Katrin Ströbel works e.g. in Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Peru, Australia and the USA. She has been represented internationally in solo and group exhibitions for 15 years. The artist lives in Marseille and teaches as a professor of drawing at the Villa Arson, École national supérieure d'art in Nice.

As part of the grant, Galerie Stihl Waiblingen is presenting the artist's first extensive monographic exhibition in Germany and will put works from the last 15 years in dialogue with works that Katrin Ströbel will develop in a four-week work process on site at Galerie Stihl Waiblingen. Ströbel accompanies the young scholarship holders who work in the gallery in the camera office and then exhibit as a mentor in an artistic exchange. In addition, there are workshops by the art school Unteres Remstal in cooperation with Katrin Ströbel, the scholarship holders and a supporting program. Renowned contemporary paper artists, promising talents and schoolchildren are thus promoted and networked within the framework of cultural education.

The artist emphasizes the special nature of the concept: "Of course, I am particularly pleased to receive the award as the first scholarship recipient. The associated solo exhibition enables me to present drawings, collages and works on paper from the last 15 years in a comprehensive context for the first time. There are hardly any programs that promote drawing and art on paper, which makes the newly created scholarship from the city of Waiblingen all the more important. In addition, as a cross-generational and international scholarship, it considers many aspects that are left out of other funding.”

The municipal gallery Stihl Waiblingen is an exhibition house that opened in 2008 and specializes in works made from and on paper. Three temporary exhibitions per year offer visitors a wide range of varied offerings: The range of topics essentially covers three areas: One focus is on classic works on paper such as drawings, watercolors and prints. Picasso, Rembrandt and Dürer are just a few of the great masters who have so far delighted the public at the Stihl Waiblingen Gallery. A second focus is on visual media that serve mass communication: posters, comics or illustrations. The exhibitions on Loriot and F. K. Waechter's satirical art set visitor records. Applied drawings and three-dimensional objects made of paper form the third pillar of the exhibition program. Whether architectural drawings, paper fashion or furniture made of cardboard, a surprising and inspiring variety of art on and made of paper unfolds for the public in this area as well.

According to gallery director Anja Gerdemann, the Stihl Waiblingen gallery, with its focus on works made from and on paper, is almost predestined to establish a scholarship for drawing and paper art in Germany. In addition, exciting and new accents can be set in the exhibition program with regard to contemporary art, current issues and relevant topics. Anja Gerdemann is looking forward to the dialogue and cooperation with Katrin Ströbel: "I see the paper art grant from the city of Waiblingen as a wonderful opportunity to promote both young artists and an internationally successful artist with a focus on drawing and paper art with a work show in the To pay tribute to the region in which her artistic roots lie.”

With the scholarship for drawing and paper art, Waiblingen has established itself as an art city of particular importance in the Stuttgart region and beyond. Likewise, the Stihl Waiblingen gallery is continuing to establish itself as an exhibition venue and production site with national and international appeal.

The work phase of the scholarship holders in the gallery Stihl Waiblingen and in the gallery in the camera office begins on July 1, 2023.

The opening of the exhibition is on July 28, 7 p.m. The exhibitions can be seen until October 8, 2023.

Contact:

City of Waiblingen
Galerie Stihl Waiblingen
Dr. Anja Gerdemann
Weingärtner Vorstadt 16
71332 Waiblingen
T +49 (7151) 5001 1680
anja.gerdemann@waiblingen.de