2022 Boston Awards Awardees Announced

Artadia, a nonprofit grantmaking organization and nationwide community of visual artists, curators, and patrons, is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2022 Boston Artadia Awards:

The 2022 Boston Artadia Award application was open to visual artists working in any visual media, at any stage in their career, who have been living and working within Allston, Arlington, Belmont, Beverly, Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Dedham, Everett, Fall River, Gloucester, Lawrence, Lexington, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Nahant, New Bedford, Newton, Peabody, Quincy, Revere, Salem, Saugus, Somerville, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Winchester, Winthrop, and Woburn for a minimum of two years.

The decision was reached after an extensive two-tiered jurying process culminating in virtual studio visits with jurors Daniel Byers, John R. Barbara Robinson Family Director, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts; and Martina Tanga, Curatorial Research Associate at MFA Boston.

Juror Martina Tanga commented on Artadia’s return to Boston: “It’s very exciting to have Artadia in our city of Boston, and it is an honor to serve as the inaugural juror for this Award. The endorsement of artistic practice this Award gives artists is transformative for the awardees and those nominated. We have such creative energy in the city, and I am so grateful that Artadia gives our artists national and international prominence.”

Fellow juror Daniel Byers commented on the jurying process: “After years of a pandemic and few studio visits, the Artadia jury process facilitated in-depth conversations with six fascinating artists, renewing my excitement about Boston’s art community. We met artists with equal investments in material-based, probing studio practices and community participation that connects and opens their work to the public and other artists.”

In addition to Hamilton, Jones-Henderson, and Miller, this year’s finalists for the Award included Harry Gould Harvey IV, Ben Sloat, and Jessica Tam. The finalists were selected by Daniel Byers, John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Director, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts; Taylor Bythewood-Porter, Curator, California African American Museum (CAAM); and Bianca Morán, an independent curator based in New York City.

Read the full press release here or in Boston Art Review.

Since its founding in 1999, Artadia has awarded over $6 million in unrestricted funds to over 360 artists nationally. Celebrating visual artists and their foundational role in shaping society, the Artadia Award benefits three artists annually in seven major US cities with high concentrations of creative workers—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco Bay Area. 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.

The 2022 Boston Artadia Awards were supported by Liberty Specialty Markets, The Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, the Meraki Artist Award, the Artadia Board of Directors, Artadia Council Members, anonymous funders and individual donors across the country.

Left to right: Napoleon Jones-Henderson (photo credit: Carroll Brantley), Stephen Hamilton (photo credit: courtesy of the artist), Shantel Miller (photo credit: Charles Graham).