Art Matters is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2020 grants. The Foundation awarded 37 fellowships of 5,000 USD each to individual artists and collective teams working in contemporary art and performance.
In this year of pandemics and protests, Art Matters engaged an internal process that eschewed application labor for artists and supported both past grantees as well as new artists whose ongoing work continues to inspire and resonates with our mission. We celebrate these artists' expression of values as Queer/Trans/Black/Indigenous/People of Color (QTBIPOC), incarcerated populations, undocumented folks, immunocompromised and/or disabled people, healers, activists, and ancestors. We want to amplify their voices and visions for radical possibilities.
“Our grantees make art that is fully embodied; art that is not risk-averse; and art that subverts structures and questions the institution,” said Art Matters Director Abbey Williams in announcing the grants. “So it was striking to engage with artists from our past and future histories. Both emerging and elder voices are expressing an urgency to find a new way forward through their work and we believe these artists can and will. These grants are our way of saying ‘We see you! Thank you for your prescient work in this current moment, it is so desperately needed'"
2020 also marks the second year of the Betty Parsons Foundation support for a portion of Art Matters grants. These named fellowships specifically support women/female-identified artists to honor the influential legacy of artist and gallerist Betty Parsons.
2020 Grantees:
#XMAP: In Plain Sight (Los Angeles, CA)
Barak adé Soleil (Chicago, IL) 2017 Grantee
Holland Andrews (Brooklyn, NY)
Patty Berne (Oakland, CA) 2017 Grantee
Diedrick Brackens (Los Angeles, CA)
Charlotte Brathwaite (Cambridge, MA)
Jibz Cameron aka Dynasty Handbag (Los Angeles, CA)
Carolina Caycedo (Los Angeles, CA) (Betty Parsons Fellow) 2014 Grantee
Tameca Cole (Birmingham, AL) (Betty Parsons Fellow)
william cordova (New York, NY/Miami, FL) 2009 Grantee
Sergio De La Torre (San Francisco, CA) 2012 Grantee
Oletha Devane (Ellicott City, MD) 2017 Grantee
Shannon Finnegan (New York, NY)
Chitra Ganesh (Brooklyn, NY) (Betty Parsons Fellow) 2010 Grantee
Maria Gaspar (Chicago, IL) 2017 Grantee
Harriet’s Apothecary (Brooklyn, NY) 2016 Grantee
Xandra Ibarra (Oakland, CA) 2016 Grantee
Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick (New Orleans, LA) 2018 Grantee
John Kelly (New York, NY) Multi-year Grantee
Laura Kina (Chicago, IL)
Jacob A. Meders (Phoenix, AZ)
Marilyn Nance (Brooklyn, NY) 1993 Grantee
Eiko Otake (New York, NY) 2015 Grantee
Tawana "Honeycomb" Petty (Detroit, MI)
Charles Preston (Chicago, IL) 2018 Grantee
Tracey Rector (Seattle, WA)
M. Janea Sanchez (Douglas, AZ)
Tracy Schlapp (Portland, OR)
Dread Scott (Brooklyn, NY) 2013 Grantee
Peggy Shaw (New York, NY) 2007 Grantee
Shikeith (Pittsburgh, PA)
Lady Shug (Diné) (Navajo Nation)
Ahya Simone (Detroit, MI) 2018 Grantee
Studio Revolt (Tacoma, WA) 2017 Grantee
Gary Tyler (Pasadena, CA) 2019 Grantee
Kristina Wong (Los Angeles, CA)
Dorian Wood (Los Angeles, CA)
In addition to grants to individuals, earlier this year in response to the impact of the pandemic on artists and their communities, Art Matters gave 40,000 USD in COVID-19 Relief Funds to support 8 artist-led mutual aid efforts. We thank them for their work and thank the countless others continuing to provide crucial mutual aid throughout this ongoing crisis.
Artists & Allies, Detroit, MI. Local response: PPE for healthcare workers.
Crenshaw Dairy Mart, (Grantee Patrisse Cullors involved), Los Angeles, CA. Regional response: money for artists working on decarceration.
Guadalupe Maravilla, (Multi-year Grantee), Brooklyn, NYC. Local response: relief money and food for undocumented communities.
House Lives Matter, New York, NY. National response: relief money for the House and Ballroom community.
Indigenous Action, Flagstaff, AZ. National response: multiple actions for Indigenous communities.
New Mexico Craft Responders, (Grantee Szu-Han Ho involved), Albuquerque, NM. Regional response: PPE for essential workers.
Performing Statistics, Richmond, Virginia. National response: multiple actions towards youth decarceration.
As well as one group supporting disabled and immunocompromised people that have requested to remain anonymous.
