The national non-profit arts organization Artadia is thrilled to announce Aineki Traverso as the recipient of the inaugural SEEN Award.

This Award allows Artadia to expand its impactful Awards program to provide recognition specifically for women, continuing its mission of supporting culturally underrepresented voices. Originated by visionary leaders and long-time friends Stacey Empson and Mary Kemper Wolf, the SEEN Award seeks to shift the long-standing dynamics of the art world that have favored male artists by recognizing a woman-identifying artist at a pivotal stage in her career. Ancillary programming, including public talks, mentorships, and gatherings will create greater scaffolding beyond the monetary award, further laying the groundwork for a holistic system of support for women artists.

“After thoughtful consideration, we are proud to announce Aineki Traverso as the inaugural SEEN Awardee. While all of the artists considered are undoubtedly deserving, we believe Traverso’s work stands out for its powerful and prescient quality. Her unique visual storytelling is both captivating and elegant. We are confident that this recognition will propel her practice to new and bold heights, allowing her to flourish even further as an artist,” shared Empson and Kemper Wolf.

“Being named the inaugural SEEN Awardee has profoundly impacted me. I am grateful to Stacey Empson, Mary Kemper Wolf and Artadia for this recognition. This award has given me the opportunity, resources and time to allow me to expand my practice with new paintings and installation work. I’m excited to continue creating and sharing my work,” shared Traverso.

Each year, Artadia successfully conducts open calls in each of the seven program cities—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Three Awardees are chosen in each city to receive unrestricted funds of $15,000. The SEEN Award will be retroactively dedicated to one woman-identifying artist from the current year’s awardees. Aineki Traverso is a recipient of the 2024 Atlanta Artadia Awards.

2024 Atlanta Award juror Lauren Cross, Gail-Oxford Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts, The Huntington, remarked on Traverso’s practice, “I am blown away with the work that Traverso is doing to not only create deeply personal paintings that capture vignettes of her life but that also reshape how one experiences painting itself. Through her different approaches to display and site-specificity, she creates new avenues for contemplation and interpretation that I am really excited to see.”

Click here to read the full press release  or on ArtsATL.