Artadia, a non-profit grantmaking organization and nationwide community of visual artists, curators, and patrons, is thrilled to announce the 2025 Atlanta Artadia Awardees: Brayan Enriquez, Ayana Ross, and Harrison Wayne. 

The 2025 Atlanta 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 Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton Counties for the last two consecutive years at minimum. We received 181 applications, with 59% of the applicants identifying as African, African American or Black, Multiracial, Arab, Arab American, Asian or Asian American, Latina/e/o/x, Middle Eastern, or North African; 44% as women, gender nonconforming, or nonbinary; and 59% as emerging artists. 

The Awards decision was reached after an extensive two-tiered jurying process. This year’s finalists for the Awards included Stephanie Brown, In Kyoung Chun, and Treyvian Dowell, selected by Round 1 jurors Theresa Bembnister, Curator, Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati; Sarah Higgins, Director, Art Papers; and Asha Iman Veal, Independent Curator and Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

All six finalists held virtual studio visits with Round 2 jurors Sarah Higgins, Director, Art Papers and Denise Ryner, Andrea B. Laporte Curator, ICA Philadelphia.

“Atlanta is well known across the country as a cultural hub for music, TV, and film, but the artists who applied for the Artadia Awards demonstrate that the city should be just as celebrated for its visual art,” shared Round 1 juror Theresa Bembnister. “The finalists may be diverse in style, medium, and subject matter, but they each submitted solid bodies of work convincing me that an Artadia Award would help move their practices forward in significant ways.”

Fellow Round 1 juror Asha Iman Veal reflected on the experience. “I have long admired Artadia as a leading organization in our field, and am curious each year to see the release of their artist Awardees. It has been an honor to participate on this year’s Atlanta Jury and to be introduced to such a striking community of talent.”

Sarah Higgins, who served as the local juror present for both rounds, reflected on the collaborative nature of the process. “I was honored to be part of the Artadia Award process for my hometown, Atlanta, which is so rich in artistic talent. I particularly loved hearing the perspectives of the other jurors, who were encountering many of these practices—ones that I, for the most part, am familiar with—for the first time. Their insights were wonderfully insightful, and helped me to see my own community with fresh eyes.”

Read the full press release here.