Columbia Announces 2021-22 Diane Dammeyer Fellowship Recipient

“Track Team, Ogden International High School” 2021; Photo by Melissa Ann Pinney “Track Team, Ogden International High School” 2021; Photo by Melissa Ann Pinney
Melissa Ann Pinney ’77, Guggenheim Fellow, Receives 2021-22 Diane Dammeyer Fellowship

Columbia College Chicago is proud to announce the recipient of the 2021-22 Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues as Melissa Ann Pinney.  

Pinney, who is a Columbia alum and part-time faculty member, is well known for colorful documentary style images of ordinary situations showing the social construction of American female identity. She has work included in the permanent collections of museums including The Art Institute of Chicago, J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Museum of Modern Art, among others. Pinney has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and has received numerous grants from the Illinois Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues, the first fellowship of its kind at Columbia, was established in 2014 by alumna Diane Dammeyer. The fellowship was created from Dammeyer’s interest in photography and passion for social justice.

The fellowship creates a space for a socially engaged photographer to produce a compelling and dynamic body of work highlighting human rights and social issues. Pinney is the seventh fellow given the opportunity to develop a new body of work in partnership with Columbia’s Photography department while immersing themselves within a Chicago community.

“Ms. Pinney has proven her capability in conveying the nuanced experiences of her subjects,” said Ross Sawyers, Chair of Columbia’s Photography Department. “Our community will benefit a great deal from watching Ms. Pinney develop her work with local public school students as she endeavors to share their engaging stories.” 

“I’m honored to receive the Dammeyer Fellowship and thrilled to begin work in partnership with the renowned Photography Department of Columbia College Chicago, the Ogden International Schools, and Senn High School,” said Pinney. 

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