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Jenny Fine of New Brockton won the 2022 South Arts Fellowship for Alabama. The Fellowship awards are given to acknowledge, support and celebrate the highest quality art being created in the South.

The program recognized nine visual artists in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The nine artists received cash awards of $5,000.

Fine was one of the nine visual artists honored by South Arts at its annual awards program at the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia on September 2.

A native of Enterprise and graduate of Enterprise High School, Fine uses large-scale photographic, sculptural work and performance to create an immersive environment of childhood memories.

“Growing up my grandmother would tell me stories and they became real to me,” Fine said. “So real that listening and imagining became the basis for my craft.”

Finally, the camera came into Fine’s craft.

“Photography mirrors the outside world,” she said. “My art comes to me in many ways. Through memory, visual images and through movement.”

Fine’s “Synchronized Swimmers,” which incorporates stories of Fine’s grandmother and her backyard pool, was commissioned by the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan. Local volunteers dressed up and became silent participants in the performance installation.

“Walking into my installation, you are immediately transported to the bottom of the pool, a blue tarp,” Fine said. “Legs are kicking and treading water, arms are continually moving, colored lights are changing.  It’s as if you are actually underwater.”

Fine’s art is a composite work derived from her imagination, her artist talent and its realistic presentation.

A little “unusual?”

No… fine.

That’s the artwork of Jenny Fine.