Artadia is pleased to announce the three Awardees for the 2022 San Francisco Bay Area Award:

The decision was reached after an extensive two-tiered jurying process, culminating in virtual studio visits with jurors Joseph Becker, Associate Curator of Architecture and Design, SFMOMA and Jasmine Wahi, Founder and Co-Director of Project for Empty Space.

Wahi commented on the wide-ranging work of the awardees, “This group represents an excitingly diverse array of practices and disciplines. Suparak’s research-based work is a critical look at Western cinema; Rick’s large-scale painting is rooted in socio-political movements; Arzabe’s introduces new forms of weaving and constructing public art intervention.”

Juror Joseph Becker remarked on the Jurying process “The Artadia Award is not only a great honor for the artists to be recognized and supported but an amazing opportunity for the jurors to step inside so many studios and hear first-hand about the process and influence behind the work.”

In addition to Arzabe, Rick, and Suparak, this year’s finalists for the Award included Maria A. Guzmán Capron, Taro Hattori, and Laine Justice, selected by Linda Dougherty, Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art, North Carolina Museum of Art; Liz Park, Richard Armstrong Curator of Contemporary Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; and Joseph Becker, Associate Curator of Architecture and Design, SFMOMA.

Click here to read the full press release or here to read the news in the SF Chronicle.

Since its founding in 1999, Artadia has awarded over six million in unrestricted funds to over 360 artists nationally. Celebrating visual artists and the foundational role they play in shaping society, the Artadia Award benefits three artists annually in each of seven major US cities with high concentrations of creative workers—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, and New York. 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 San Francisco Bay Area awards are supported by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, the Artadia Board of Directors, Artadia Council Members, and individual donors across the country.

Image Captions:

Left to right:  Miguel Arzabe, Gregory Rick, Astria Suparak (photos courtesy of the artists).