From 4-H to international exhibits: Morningside University professor named Iowa Artist Fellow

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - Shelby Prindaville, a Morningside University art professor, has been chosen as one of five artists across Iowa to receive the 2026 Iowa Artist Fellowship Program award. Prindaville said she is the first artist based in Sioux City to receive the fellowship. 'I am the first in Sioux City, based in Sioux City to get it, which I think is a real honor,' Prindaville said. The last Sioux City artist to receive the fellowship was Matthew Drissell, who was awarded the fellowship while working as an associate professor of art at Dordt College in Sioux Center. The Iowa Artist Fellowship was established in 2014 and honors excellence, innovation and public value. 'My artwork is always ecologically focused, and I say ecologically because humans are involved even though they're never depicted, so my artwork focuses on nature, but in the lens of a human-altered world, which is the world that they're living in,' Prindaville said. Prindaville first got her start in 4-H. 'I was like, oh, this is something I guess I'm successful at. So it really gave me the confidence to keep pursuing it,' Prindaville said. She now teaches at Morningside University. 'It's very competitive to pursue a path in higher education, specifically in arts,' Prindaville said. Current and past students said Prindaville has inspired them to pursue a future in the profession. Taryn Oxendale, a current student, said the fellowship shows the opportunity available in rural areas. 'It really just goes to show just how much opportunity there is even in rural areas where there's not nearly as much, or at least you would think,' Oxendale said. Mia Oliva, a current student, said the award shows what is possible to pursue as an artist. 'It goes to show just what there is to pursue for an artist like myself, someone who's growing, just a student and what to expect in the future,' Oliva said. Adeline Pagan Sanchez, of the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas, said Prindaville represents a different image of what a successful artist can be. 'Almost every time you hear about what an artist looks like, you just have to be a starving artist. Shelby was kind of like an example of what a successful artist could look like without having to be starving,' Pagan Sanchez said. 'I was not surprised; I was just like very happy for her, and she deserves it,' she said. Prindaville said her ceramics have been featured in exhibits in Iowa and internationally. 'Several of these ceramics have been on exhibits in a variety of shows, most recently at the Le Mars Art Center in spring this year,' Prindaville said. Her work has also been shown overseas. 'One was at the Parnu Central Library Gallery in Parnu, Estonia,' Prindaville said. 'The second exhibition was an open studio exhibition at TACT in Berlin, Germany.' Prindaville is being awarded $10,000 for the fellowship. She plans to use it to invest in her craft and her community. 'An agricultural spray drone and we're going to load that and fly it over and spray paint on the paper. We're going to have Iowa plants throughout the entirety of the process and like Iowa students doing it and it's going to be really cool,' Prindaville said. Prindaville said she will be hosting several art workshops for the community, including creating paper with local materials and making ink out of walnut hulls. Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland's News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.