Artadia is pleased to announce the five Finalists for the 2017 Atlanta Awards: Clark Ashton, Michi Meko, Masud Ashley Olufani, Charlina Rose-Renaye Smith, and Tori Tinsley.

The Finalists were selected by jurors Anthony Elms, Chief Curator, Insitutute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Adam McEwen, artist; and Teresa Bramlette Reeves, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Of the Atlanta applicants, Reeves noted: “I am really pleased and excited about the list of five finalists as it represents a strong sampling of the breadth of work being produced by artists in Atlanta.  It is a bit of an irreverent list too, satisfyingly open.

McEwen expanded on the diversity of the applicants. “Judging by the work we looked at, Atlanta clearly enjoys an exceptionally healthy and vibrant art scene. The quality of the work and the diversity of methods explored was extremely impressive: many different ways of thinking and seeing and risk-taking. To encounter so many artists – of such a wide range in age and experience – pushing forward with such seriousness and determination was very exciting.”

This is Artadia’s fifth time presenting curator-driven, unrestricted Awards to Atlanta artists. Artadia received 106 applications for the 2017 Atlanta Artadia Awards, which were open to all visual artists living in Greater Atlanta (the 23 eligible counties of Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton) for over two years, working in any media, and at any stage of their career. Finalists and Artadia Award recipients are selected through Artadia’s rigorous, two-tier jury review process. In the first round of review, jurors evaluated the merit of all submissions and collaboratively determined the five Finalists. The Finalists will receive studio visits with the second round jurors, who will ultimately select two artists as Awardees to receive $10,000 in unrestricted funds. Awardees are invited to participate in Artadia’s ongoing Beneficiary program, connecting them to a network of curators and collectors across the country and advancing their careers.

Artadia is a national non-profit organization that supports artists with unrestricted, merit-based Awards followed by a lifetime of program opportunities. Artadia is unique in that it allows any artist to apply, engages nationally recognized curators to review work, and culminates in direct grants. Since 1999, Artadia has awarded over $3 million to more than 300 artists in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

On the jurying experience, Elms noted, “Artists deserve a range of support far and wide across this country. It is always a pleasure to be exposed to new artists and new scenes beyond locations I regularly visit. It is inspiring. To have invested conversations around art and artists is something I will always make time for.”

The 2017 Atlanta Artadia Awards are generously supported by MailChimp, the Tim & Lauren Schrager Family Foundation, Artadia’s Board of Directors, Atlanta Council members, and many generous individual donors in Atlanta.