Artadia, the national non-profit that grants unrestricted awards to artists around the country, has named artists Valentina Jager and Bria Lauren as the 2020 Houston Artadia winners. The artists will each be awarded $10,000 in unrestricted funds.
Jager was a recipient of the second annual Houston Artadia Fellowship for Immigrant Artists last year, and received $2,500 in unrestricted funds from that program, which was introduced in 2018 as a response to Houston’s diverse immigrant artist communities.
2020 Artadia Award finalists also included Cindee Travis Klement, Anna Mavromatis and Phillip Pyle II.
Houston Artadia awardee Valentina Jager. Photo Credit: Agustín Arce
Ashely DeHoyos, Curator at Diverseworks, and Rebecca Matalon, Curator at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, were 2020 Artadia jurors, along with Judy Ditner, Curator of Photography and Digital Media at Yale University Art Gallery, and Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Says Artadia Executive Director Carolyn Ramo: “Artadia provides social and financial support for visual artists to sustain a thriving practice and continue creating their vital work. Artists play an essential role in shaping our communities, serving as social leaders and cultural innovators, and Artadia is honored to celebrate these individuals through our Award program.”
Houston Artadia awardee Bria Lauren. Photo Credit: Troy Montes.
“The five finalists excellently represented Houston’s diverse and intergenerational community of artists,” states Matalon. “Their varying works and practices reflect the many urgent questions and concerns driving contemporary conversations around art and politics, from ecology and land use, to Black motherhood, and the intersection of consumer culture and gentrification.”
DeHoyos adds, “I am continuously inspired by Houston artists and the depth of artistic practices across the city. Each of our five finalists offered unique perspectives of how art can be used to generate conversation, share important or forgotten history, reclaim narratives, and create I am in awe of each finalist’s lines of inquiry in contemporary topics and their creativity. It was an honor to visit with each artist and I look forward to seeing where they go from here.”
Beyond the grant, the award includes lifelong access to a community of fellow artists and patrons. The Artadia Award is designed to provide essential funding and recognition to artists at pivotal points in their careers, strengthen their communities, and spur new levels of career achievement.
For more information, please visit Artadia’s website here.
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The 2020 Houston Artadia Award is generously supported by John R. Eckel Jr. Foundation, The Brown Foundation, the Houston Endowment, Artadia Board of Directors, and individual donors from across the country.
