Today the national arts fund nonprofit Artadia announced the ten finalists for their seventh annual Houston Artadia Awards. Following a panel review of 225 applicants earlier this month, the finalist are:
- Deborah Bay
- JooYoung Choi
- Lily Cox-Richard
- Bill Daniel
- Autumn Knight
- El Franco Lee II
- Angel Oloshove
- Stephanie Saint Sanchez
- Nestor Topchy
- Charisse Weston
Founded in 1999, Artadia provides “unrestricted, merit-based awards to contemporary artists chosen through a rigorous jury process involving a panel of internationally recognized curators.”
For this year’s initial panel round, jurors included Claudia Schmuckli, director and chief curator at the Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston; Rujeko Hockley, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum; and the artist David Altmejd. Schmuckli, commenting on the decisions reached by the panel, said in a press statement:
“I am thrilled that the final selection offers an exciting cross section of artistic practice across gender, race, age, and access to education that is truly representative of the diversity that makes Houston such a unique and special place to live and work in.”
Following studio visits with the finalists in late November, Schmuckli together with Lanka Tattersall, assistant curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, will make their final decision.
The finalist selected will receive up to $20,000 in unrestricted funds, made available through donations by the Brown Foundation, the Houston Endowment, Artadia’s board of directors and council members, and individuals throughout the country.