Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship Program

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists is a central pillar of Lynden’s support for artists. The program is funded by the foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund, which was created when artist Mary L. Nohl of Fox Point, Wisconsin, died in December 2001 at the age of 87, leaving a bequest of $9.6 million to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Her fund supports local visual arts and education programs, keeping her passion for the visual arts alive in the community.

The program, funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund, has two components. The fellowship program provides unrestricted funds for Established and Emerging artists to create new work or complete work in progress. The Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Suitcase Export Fund for Visual Art was created to help artists with the cost of exhibiting their work outside the four-county area (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington). Both programs are open to practicing artists residing in the four-county area. One hundred and thirty-one fellowships have been awarded since the program began in 2003.

A virtual workshop will be offered to help prospective applicants better understand the application process. Polly Morris, executive director of the Lynden, who administers the fellowship program, will be joined by current Nohl Fellows.

The workshop is open to new applicants as well as those who have applied in the past.

• Thursday, September 4, 2025, 6-7:30 pm.

The workshop is free, but you must register in advance. Click here to register.

Morris will also offer three virtual Q&A sessions on Zoom. All of these sessions are free, but you must register in advance. Register for any of these Q&As here.
• Thursday, September 11, 2025,12 noon-1 pm.
• Saturday, September 20, 2025, 10-11 am.
• Thursday, September 25, 2025, 6:30-7:30 pm.
If you are unable to attend the workshop or Q&A sessions on Zoom, they will be recorded and posted to this page.

The 2026 Nohl Fellows will be selected by an independent panel of three visual arts professionals working outside the four-county area. The eighteen-month fellowship period will include studio visits from curators and artists; an exhibition at the Haggerty Museum of Art; an opportunity to present a public program; and an exhibition catalogue with a critical essay about each artist’s work.

For further information:
Polly Morris
Lynden Sculpture Garden
2145 W. Brown Deer Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53217
(414) 446-8794
pmorris@lyndensculpturegarden.org