Art Matters Foundation is proud to announce the second year of Artist2Artist, a program where our grant recipients—artists—act as grantmakers. This year, the Board elected 15 grantees (including 6 Art Matters alumni and 9 artists new to Art Matters support) to both receive and give a fellowship, resulting in 30 Artist2Artist Fellows. The artist-grantmakers and Art Matters’ Board were asked to consider the following guidelines as they made their selections:
–Artist2Artist recognizes that artists do not necessarily identify as professional artists, and collaborate with broadly defined culture workers.
–Artist2Artist seeks grantmakers/grantees who align with our vision of giving through mutual aid, micro-granting, peer/community care, or other solidarity economy strategies.
–Artist2Artist seeks to support experimental practices and under-recognized artists.
–Artist2Artist seeks to foster stronger relationships between artists/culture workers.
These principles reflect feedback from the 2021 pilot year Artist2Artist Fellows, who identified barriers around the salient issues of precarity and care. Art Matters Director Abbey Williams said, “Artist2Artist works to undo the divisive competitive structures, perpetuated by art institutions, both philanthropic and nonprofit. Through this new process, we seek to remove the gatekeeping to support and embolden those already building new networks toward true artists’ sovereignty.”
In December, the foundation awarded 225K USD in Artist2Artist Fellowships to individual artists and culture workers who are also healers, activists, elders, and caregivers, addressing the long-term sustenance of their communities. Sharing her experience, 2022 Artist2Artist Fellow Viva Ruiz spoke about the game-changing aspect of recognizing the creative, communal, and spiritual in oneself and others, “For us to see each other is how I think art gets made, you know?”
2022 also marks the fourth year of the Betty Parsons Foundation’s 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.
The 2022 Artist2Artist Fellows are:
Panteha Abareshi, CA
Rena Anakwe, Lenapehoking, Canarsie-Munsee Territory—Brooklyn, NY
Joss Barton, The Occupied Lands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations—Chicago, IL
Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, Lenapehoking—Philadelphia, PA
Ezra Benus, Lenapehoking—Brooklyn, NY
illx / Pablo Varona Borges, San Juan, PR
Tiffany Chung, 2010 Alumni, Houston, TX
Shani Peters & Joseph Cuillier (The Black School), New Orleans, LA
Jeremy Dennis, Unceded Lands of the Shinnecock Nation—Southampton, NY
Axel Eden, Brooklyn, NY
devynn emory, Lenapehoking, Canarsie-Munsee Territory—Brooklyn, NY
Amara Abdal Figueroa, 2019 Alumni & 2022 Betty Parsons Fellow, Federación Antillana—Ponce, Puerto Rico
Daesha Devón Harris, Saratoga Springs, NY
Nicole Hall (IdentityInc!), Farmington, NM
Paul John, New York, NY & Maastricht, NL
Tish Jones, 2019 Alumni, Dakota & Ojibwa Land—Saint Paul, MN
M. Carmen Lane (ATNSC), Haudenosaunee land–Cleveland, OH
Wit López, Lenapehoking—Philadelphia, PA
Abdul-Aliy A. Muhammad, Lenapehoking—Philadelphia, PA
Ilknur Ozgur (Artstillery), Dallas, TX
phlegm, New Orleans, LA
Chef Sherry Pocknett (Sly Fox Den), Preston, CT
Kameelah Janan Rasheed, 2014 Alumni & 2022 Betty Parsons Fellow, Brooklyn, NY
Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond (Fannie Lou Hamer House), Fairview Heights, IL
Viva Ruiz, Lenapehoking—Brooklyn, NY
Lady Shug, 2020 Alumni, Diné (Navajo) Nation Territory—Farmington, NM
Jaiko Suzuki, New York, NY
Brian Walker II, Anchorage, AK
Allison Akootchook Warden, 2015 Alumni Grantee, Fairbanks, AK
Tassiana Willis, Ohlone “Yemalu” Territory—San Francisco, CA
Photo: The “Beach Access” series by 2022 Artist2Artist Fellow Jeremy Dennis highlights how the Shinnecock Nation is being denied free access to their ancestral beaches in Southampton, NY.
