Artadia, a non-profit grantmaking organization and nationwide community of visual artists, curators, and patrons, is thrilled to announce the 2025 Chicago Artadia Awardees: Carlos Flores, the 2025 Joyce Foundation Artadia Awardee, Isabelle Frances McGuire, and B. Ingrid Olson, the 2025 LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation Artadia Awardee.

The 2025 Chicago Artadia Awards application was open to visual artists working in any visual media, at any stage in their career, who have been living and working within Cook County for a minimum of two years. We received 306 applications, with 60% of the applicants identifying as Arab, Asian, biracial or multiracial, Black, Latinx, Native American or Alaskan Native; 74% as women, gender nonconforming, or nonbinary; and 54% as emerging artists. 

The Awards decision was reached after an extensive two-tiered jurying process. This year’s finalists for the Awards included Sydney Lynne, Farah Salem, and Edra Soto, selected by Round 1 jurors Giampaolo Bianconi, Associate Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art The Art Institute of Chicago; Alessandra Gómez, Independent Curator; and Brittany Webb, Evelyn and Will Kaplan Curator of Twentieth-Century Art and the John Rhoden Collection, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

“As a curator who spent some of my formative years immersed in Chicago’s interdisciplinary art scene, participating in Artadia’s jurying process provided a valuable opportunity to reconnect with the city’s exceptional artistic talent. As our arts funding landscape presently faces increasing obstacles, I commend Artadia for their unwavering commitment to their values,” Gómez remarked.

All six finalists held virtual studio visits with jurors Giampaolo Bianconi joined by Lydia Ross, Independent Curator and Educator.

“Learning from so many artists, as well as my fellow jurors, has been the defining aspect of this process,” Bianconi commented about the overall process.

His fellow Round 2 juror Lydia Ross remarked: “It was an honor and privilege to serve as a juror for this year’s Chicago Artadia Awards. The six finalists embody the best of Chicago’s vibrant art community, each with a strong visual language and generosity of spirit. It was especially rewarding to have the intimate, immersive experience of virtual studio visits, where I was able to engage directly with their work and process, deepening my appreciation for the talent and vision shaping Chicago’s contemporary art scene. Determining the awardees was a difficult process as all are deserving of the support and amplification of their practices, and I am excited to follow each as they tackle urgent questions that drive their work.”

Read the full press release here.