The 2024 Latinx Artist Fellowships Provide $50,000 in Unrestricted Funding and a Year-Long Program of Professional Engagement Opportunities

MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, June 18, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- [Medford, MA, June 17, 2024] – Fifteen artists living and working across the United States and in Puerto Rico have been awarded the 2024 Latinx Artist Fellowships by the U.S. Latinx Art Forum (USLAF), a non-profit organization formed in 2015 to address the underrepresentation and underfunding of Latinx art. As part of the year-long Latinx Artist Fellowship program, each artist receives $50,000 in unrestricted funding to support their creative work, as well as opportunities to participate in public programs co-hosted by USLAF.

Recognizing the most compelling Latinx visual artists working in the United States today, the Latinx Artist Fellowship was established in 2021 to address a systemic lack of support, visibility, and patronage of Latinx visual artists—individuals of Latin American or Caribbean descent, born or long-living in the United States. To date, the fellowship program has supported 60 exceptional artists at all career stages, helping to establish essential connections, a lasting legacy, and a vibrant community of Latinx artists.

The 2024 cohort of fellows represent nine cities across the United States and Puerto Rico, and reflects the varied racial, ethnic, and gender identities within the Latinx community; the cohort includes Afro-Latinx, women-identified, queer, and transgender artists. Their artistic practices span painting, installation, ceramics, printmaking, photography, sound art, social practice, and performance, as well as site-responsive interventions.

“It is an honor to welcome this year’s Latinx Artist Fellows, who represent the rich cultural tapestry of Latinx identity in the United States,” said Adriana Zavala, Ph.D., Executive Director, U.S. Latinx Art Forum. “Each is on their own distinct career path, yet their engagement with themes of identity, social justice, immigration, spirituality, and decolonial aesthetics challenge dominant narratives and bring underrepresented perspectives to the forefront.”

The 2024 Latinx Artist Fellows are:

Alberto Aguilar
Chicago, IL

Yreina D. Cervántez
Los Angeles, CA

Lizania Cruz
New York, NY

Jenelle Esparza
San Antonio, TX

Fronterizx Collective
(Jenea Sanchez & Gabriela Muñoz), Phoenix, AZ

Joel Gaitan
Miami, FL

Guillermo Gómez-Peña
San Francisco CA

Maria Maea
Los Angeles, CA

Charo Oquet
Miami, FL

Pepón Osorio
Philadelphia, PA

Elle Pérez
Bronx, NY

Gadiel Rivera Herrera
San Juan, PR

Sandy Rodriguez
Los Angeles, CA

John Valadez
Los Angeles, CA

Chris E. Vargas
Los Angeles, CA /
Bellingham, WA

The 2024 Latinx Artist Fellows were selected from nearly 200 nominees recommended by invited external nominators with Latinx art expertise, including curators at USLAF partner organizations, fellows from previous Latinx Artist Fellowship cohorts, and other arts practitioners. The jurors who selected the 2024 Latinx Artist Fellows from among the nominees were: Angelica Arbelaez (Rubio Butterfield Family Fellow, Whitney Museum of American Art), Rita Gonzalez (Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and Department Head of Contemporary Art of Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Cesáreo Moreno (Visual Arts Director and Chief Curator, National Museum of Mexican Art), Maria Elena Ortiz (Curator, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth), Felipe Baeza (2023-2024 USLAF Latinx Artist Fellow), Sofía Gallisá Muriente (2023-2024 USLAF Latinx Artist Fellow), and Tina Tavera (2023-2024 USLAF Latinx Artist Fellow).

Established in 2021 with an initial five-year, combined commitment of $5 million from the Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation, the Fellowship is part of the Latinx Art Visibility Initiative, which is led by both foundations. USLAF administers the fellowship in collaboration with the New York Foundation for the Arts.

“This year's cohort includes artists whose work has been recognized by major awards and shown in museums and galleries including the Hammer Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, LACMA, and MoMA PS1, as well as those who are at pivotal moments in their careers,” noted Mary Thomas, Director of Programs of U.S. Latinx Art Forum. “The Latinx Artist Fellowship aims to support their potential for greater recognition while opening pathways for future institutional support and the development of important professional relationships.”

With the visibility and support provided by the Fellowships, artists in previous cohorts have been invited to join residencies, participated in major museum and gallery exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad, including planned solo exhibitions and career retrospectives, and have had works acquired by museums. The unrestricted funding of $50,000 has allowed them to cover costs such as rent for climate-controlled studios and hiring studio assistants, production teams, and fabricators to help them realize long-envisioned, large-scale projects.

“We celebrate these artists’ contributions to the art world and look forward to highlighting their practices for a national audience, in collaboration with our institutional partners, through a series of public programs throughout the year,” said Michelle Ruiz, Program Coordinator, U.S. Latinx Art Forum. ”As we continue to set the stage for future growth in the field, they serve as beacons of inspiration and encouragement for future generations of Latinx artists.”

The Latinx Artist Fellowship marks the largest of USLAF’s initiatives to provide direct support to artists, which also include micro-grant programs such as the Artist Mentorship Program, which launched in 2022, and the Charla Fund and Chispa, which provided pandemic relief funds to BIPOC artists.

Founded in 2015, USLAF is the only national organization exclusively dedicated to Latinx visual art and art history.

Margaret Doyle
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