How a Merit Fellowship Helped Ahmad George Paint Their History

When Ahmad George reflects on their time as a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), fellowship is front and center. The support from the Holly Hunt Graduate Merit Fellowship made their Master of Fine Arts degree financially feasible, but it was the fellow friends, family, and SAIC community members who made George’s journey possible.  

"The professors are fabulous, fabulous, fabulous resources," said George. "A lot of them are great artists themselves, but they also just guide you and connect you with other people." Early in George’s time at SAIC, Associate Professor Scott Reeder saw promise in George’s painted and fiber-based work and advocated for them to be awarded the Holly Hunt Graduate Merit Fellowship.

George is a Memphis-born painter and multimedia artist completing their MFA at SAIC. Their work blends old and contemporary imagery of the American South. Working in acrylic paint and fiber, they explore archetypes, personal family history, and its connections to the agricultural industry, building their own lore and symbols specific to the Delta and their family alongside existing anthropological materials.

George’s fellowship freed up time for their creative practice to flourish. "It really just helped take some of the financial load off," they said. "I didn’t have to work 25 more hours a week, or try to put pressure on my art, and I didn’t have to paint to sell.” The fellowship allowed them the freedom to “just paint to explore and be better."

During their time at SAIC, George asked wide-ranging questions: "What is the context I’m working in, how do I want to be represented, and what do I find important in my practice?” Fellowship, in terms of finances and also community, helped them work through big questions. “How do I want to be seen as an artist, and how do I want to operate in this world?”

Creativity has always influenced how George fits into the world. Growing up, their mother painted the family's beds and made comics for the kids. "Art has always been a part of my life," said George. "But it wasn't until I started doing public art, and also volunteering, that I started to realize that the system of arts had multiple non abstract entryways."

George’s practice takes root in their ancestral archives, as well as historical figures who take presence in contemporary objects, like the lawn jockey. These histories surface across their body of work through layered figures, both human and animal. In Jocko (2025), a 36-by-60-inch tufted yarn and acrylic work, a horse stands alone in a twilight field of tall grass, the night sky rendered in deep cerulean blue yarn with stars and a crescent moon.

In I Called Out for You (2025), a 59-by-60-inch acrylic and charcoal work on canvas tarp, a figure calls outward against a blazing orange sky, surrounded by a painted border of perfume oil bottles on top of a gesturally drawn and painted grass. George’s work is very autobiographical, weaving symbols through the painting for the viewer to project onto.. The people they paint are often family members who have passed. "It does feel nice to be surrounded by that for a second, again," they said, "it's a nice presence to paint in."
 
As they prepare to graduate, George reflects on everything the Holly Hunt Graduate Merit Fellowship made room for: the faculty connections, the resources, the freedom to ask harder questions about their practice. Of course, Chicago has offered a wealth of inspiration and opportunities. "My access to resources are at a much greater and higher rate in Chicago: the museums, libraries, and art shows," they said. Now, they are ready for what comes next.