Artadia, a non-profit grantmaking organization and nationwide community of visual artists, curators, and patrons, is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2024 San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Awards: Zeina Barakeh, Genevieve Quick, and Esteban Abdul Raheem Samayoa.

The 2024 San Francisco Bay Area 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 Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma Counties for a minimum of two years. We received 358 applications, with 56% of the applicants identifying as Black, Native American or Alaskan Native, Latinx, Asian, Arab, biracial or multiracial; 60% as women, gender nonconforming, or nonbinary; and 46% as emerging artists.

The Awards decision was reached after an extensive two-tiered jurying process. This year’s finalists for the Awards included Torreya Cummings, Tianzong Jiang, and Ramekon O’Arwisters, selected by Round 1 jurors Corinne Erni, Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator of Art and Education, Parrish Art Museum; Việt Lê, artist, writer, and curator; and Ileana Tejada, Senior Manager, Fellowships and Programs, Headlands Center for the Arts.

On being a part of the jurying panel, Erni remarked “Artadia provided me with a welcome opportunity to take a deep dive into the burgeoning art scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a curator based on the East Coast, I enjoyed the process of discussing the artists and our selection criteria with my fellow jurors who have a closer connection to the place.”

All six finalists held virtual studio visits with jurors Ileana Tejada joined by Laura Phipps, Associate Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art.

“Spending time with the dynamic art scene in the Bay Area as an Artadia juror was a really special opportunity and provided a wonderful experience for us to collaborate and engage in dialogue as colleagues across the country. Tejado was an invaluable co-conspirator and a fount of Bay Area knowledge, while Phipps brought her transcontinental insight and deep understanding of art and art history, both of which were equally critical in this process,” shared Round 2 jurors Tejada and Phipps.

They continued, “Within the varied practices of these Bay Area artists, we observed the profound ways in which these artists prioritize research, approach and embody often difficult histories, and carefully and critically consider material choices. We were repeatedly struck by the use of humor—an important tool deployed cuttingly and effectively as a healing technique in their work.”

Click here to read the full press release or here to read the announcement in SF Datebook.