Rehab El Sadek, an installation artist based in Austin, is among the ten artists selected for the 2025-2027 Tulsa Artist Fellowship (TAF) program.
Tulsa Artist Fellowship Open House. Photo by Dylan Johnson
Established in 2015, TAF was originally a year-long residency. In 2023, the organization announced that it would expand the program to three years and increase the stipend to $150,000, and a housing stipend of $36,000 to be paid over the duration of the residency. The press release announcing the newest cohort notes that artists will receive $195,000 in stipends. The TAF website clarifies that along with the stipend and housing stipend, artists will also receive funds to go toward health, a studio assistant, and relocation.
This year’s awardees were selected by a panel of eight professionals, including Kalup Linzy, an artist and TAF Alum-in-Residence; Laura Hughes, a writer, translator, and co-founder of Basket Books & Art in Houston; Edwin Smalling, an artist and co-founder of Basket Books & Art; Mathew Rodriguez, a writer; Risa Puleo, a curator and historian; Jessica McEver, a film producer and co-founder of The Tulsa Film Collective; Kate Green, PhD, a curator and historian; and Alicia Chesser, a critical writer, dancer, and choreographer.
Rehab El Sadek
Ms. El Sadek is an interdisciplinary artist whose work involves architecture and language, as she explores memory, both personal and cultural. According to her website, as an Egyptian artist of Sudanese ancestry, she is influenced by the ancient civilizations of her native country. In 2023, she received The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and the Dallas Museum of Art Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Grant. In 2022, she was the inaugural Project Row Houses Southern Survey Biennial Prize winner. See a full list of the 2025-2027 TAF cohort below.
Carolyn Sickles, Executive and Artistic Director of TAF, commented, “Oklahoma is the center stage for cultivating a profound national understanding and advancement. Long-form commitment and care are at the heart of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship’s distinct place-based framework. The incoming awardees will join an established second-year cohort, alumni, dedicated staff team, and vibrant creative community that proudly and passionately calls Tulsa home. Together, our presence, stewardship, and collaborative contributions powerfully shape Tulsa’s arts ecosystem and cultural identity.”
In April 2025, TAF will open applications for its 2026-2028 cohort of artists. Learn more about the program via the organization’s website.
2025-2027 Tulsa Artist Fellowship Cohort
Lindsay Aveilhé, Curator, Arts Writer and Editor – Brooklyn, NY / Tulsa, OK
Franky Cruz, Interdisciplinary, Science – Hialeah, FL
Rehab El Sadek, Installation, Architecture, Language – Austin, TX
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Multimedia, Interdisciplinary, Social Practice – Brooklyn, NY
Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), Nonfiction Writer – Providence, RI
Gavin Kroeber, Social Practice, Writer, Curator – St. Louis, MO
Melissa Lukenbaugh, Photojournalist, Film, Ecology – Tulsa, OK
Alicia Smith (Nahuas/Tecuexes/Purepechas), Performance, Interdisciplinary – Oklahoma City, OK
Colleen Thurston (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Filmmaker, Film Curator – Tulsa, OK
Micaela Tobin, Sound, Composer– Los Angeles, CA
