Honorarium recipients announced for Oregon Fringe Festival

This year’s Oregon Fringe Festival, which will take place online and feature outdoor art installations on the SOU campus, has selected recipients and awarded honorariums to seven artists worldwide whose work is boundary-breaking, unconventional, excites discussion and explores different perspectives of a held position, principle or belief. The festival will be presented by the Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU from April 29 to May 1.

The Fringe Festival – usually a six-day event at SOU – will be condensed this year but will maintain its trademark edge as emerging creators and real-world artists share their experiences and engage with each other’s work. The festival’s mission is to provide a boundary-breaking platform for free expression and celebrate unconventional art and spaces.

The 2021 version will feature more than 50 acts and more than 40 different artists. Viewers will have opportunities to interact with a variety of creative work – including live virtual performances, artist lectures/workshops, an extensive virtual gallery and outdoor art installations.

Seven local, national and international artists were selected for this year’s honorariums:

• Carlos Fernandex and Manisha Sondhi (Theatre), London
• Neila Miller (dance/movement), Chicago
• Aurelia Grierson (theatre), Ashland
• Cody Clark (magic/comedy), Louisville, Kentucky
• Nat Allister (theatre), Minneapolis
• Derek Keller (music), Ashland
• Ginger and Johnny (theatre), Los Angeles

The Oregon Fringe Festival, which began in 2014, is an Oregon Center for the Arts-funded showcase of SOU students’ creative work. It includes presentations of music, visual art, theatre, dance, creative writing and spoken word, and is built to expand as needed. The festival invites artists from all stages of their careers – from beginners to award-winners – to mingle, network, and perform.

“Our mission is simple: to provide a platform for free expression, and work to secure a tolerant space for the sharing of ideas through story,” the OFF website says.

The festival provides a boundary-breaking platform for free expression that amplifies the voices of those who are unrepresented in the creative arts. A lens on equity, diversity and inclusion will filter the selection process for all projects submitted.

People with disabilities are encouraged to enjoy the events, and those who require accommodations can contact SOU’s Disability Resources office in advance at DSS@sou.edu.

All of the festival’s presentations are free and open to the public.