2014 Boston Artadia Awardees Announced

Boston -- Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue is pleased to announce the 2014 Boston Artadia Awardees: Larissa Bates, Ria Brodell, and Lucy Kim. The three artists will each receive $12,000 in unrestricted funds and join the nationwide network of Artadia Awardees. Benefits include access to Artadia programs, our New York Residency, Awardee exhibitions, studio visits and connections with curators, and participation in Artadia projects at art fairs across the country. Since 1998, Artadia has recognized artistic excellence in cities across the United States with unrestricted, merit-based Awards to contemporary artists chosen through a rigorous evaluation process juried by two distinct panels of internationally recognized curators. In addition to Boston, Artadia currently funds Awards on a rotating cycle in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Applications for the third Boston Artadia Awards were open to visual artists living in Boston and working in all media, and at any stage of their career. The application was available online for three months from August to October. In the first round, three jurors - Christopher Bedford, Director of The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Ruba Katrib, Curator at Sculpture Center and New York-based painter Ryan Sullivan - selected ten finalists from a pool of 389 applicants. The ten finalists were: Sonia Almeida, Larissa Bates, Ria Brodell, Stephanie Cardon, Lucy Kim, Niho Kozuru, Susan Metrican, Irina Rozovsky, Matt Saunders, and Jill Slosburg-Ackerman.

Christopher Bedford served on both the first and second rounds of the Artadia jury to lend continuity and context to the review process. Bedford experienced new insight into Boston's artistic community through his participation in the Artadia Award program, saying that he has "always thought of Boston as a city of art history and great museums, and this process has demonstrated something else entirely: that Boston is also a vibrant center for art production."

Second-round jurors Bartholomew Ryan, Assistant Curator at The Walker Art Center and Gretchen Wagner, Artistic Director and Chief Curator at the Oklahoma Contemporary and Marfa Contemporary, joined Christopher Bedford to conduct studio visits with the ten finalists for two consecutive days (November 19-20) in Boston. Of the process, Gretchen Wagner said, "dialogue and conversation in the studio is an essential moment for both artists and curators, and Artadia grants the opportunity for these important discussions." Bedford, Ryan and Wagner selected Larissa Bates, Ria Brodell, and Lucy Kim from the finalist pool based on the outstanding merit of their work, the singularity of their artistic voices and the rigor employed in their artistic practices. Larissa Bates' intimately scaled paintings focus on themes of masculinity, cultural identity, and social performance. Ria Brodell uses the format of traditional Catholic holy cards to present detailed renderings of people who chose to live outside of traditional female gender roles. Lucy Kim combines sculptural relief and painting to disrupt normal modes of perception and figuration.

In addition to providing direct support to individual artists, Artadia highlights the diverse and important communities within our Award cities. After visiting with the finalists, Bartholomew Ryan was "delighted to have had the opportunity to take a deep dive into studios in Boston," and noted that he will "have a very different relationship to the city going forward." Gretchen Wagner felt that, "spending time with artists in Boston provided a window onto a tremendous community, and [is] pleased the Awards will support the continuation of this exciting activity."

Artadia is happy to be partnering with the Art & Business Council of Greater Boston for the 2014 Boston Artadia Awards. Awardees will receive additional support through the Arts & Business Council's professional development programming -- including workshops, webinars, and coaching that support the unique goals, and overall business success of artists and creative entrepreneurs in Massachusetts.

About Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue - Artadia: The Fund for Art & Dialogue is a national non-profit organization that supports visual artists with unrestricted, merit-based Awards and fosters connections to a network of opportunities. We recognize artistic excellence in cities throughout the United States and introduce local communities to the international art conversation. In the past 15 years, Artadia has awarded over $3 million to more than 285 artists throughout its participating Award cities of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Over 20,000 artists have applied for the Artadia Awards program.

By providing artists with significant, unrestricted financial Awards ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, and ongoing assistance through out their careers, Artadia establishes a strong incentive to support artistic excellence. Additionally, continued support is achieved through close collaborations with its host cities to create exhibition opportunities for artists, arrange studio visits with local as well as national curators, source residency programs, and make introductions in the field.

As one of the few organizations to operate on both a local and national level, Artadia is in a unique position to create sustainable fiscal and social change for artists. In addition to its ongoing Award cycles, Artadia activates its unique network of artist services and support through national partnerships, in addition to its own residency program at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in Brooklyn and a national Award program with the New Art Dealer's Alliance in New York and Miami. The Artadia/NADA Award helps bring recognition to artists who are shown at one of the most visited national art fairs in the world.