Sweat Variant Names 2026 Artists Supporting Artists Program and Threading Residency Recipients
Souleymane 'Solo' Badolo, Kayla Hamilton, and SERAFINE1369 are among the selected artists.
sweat variant / Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born have announced the artists selected for the 2026 Artists Supporting Artists Program (ASAP) and the Threading Residency, two initiatives dedicated to community-building and exploring new models for sustaining artists.
Established in 2024, both ASAP and the Threading Residency recognize artists who are pushing boundaries and whose work is deeply rooted in rigorous movement-based practice or in live performance. The two programs are centered around the belief that a thriving arts ecosystem depends on a network of mutual support and cultivation among artists.
The Artists Supporting Artists Program provides direct monetary support to individual artists and small companies to research and develop new and existing projects. The 2026 ASAP recipients are Souleymane “Solo” Badolo, Kayla Hamilton, and Kris Lee and Lauren Bakst.
The Threading Residency honors the late Georgiana Pickett, a pioneer and steadfast contributor to the arts scene in New York. Artists are selected through an annual nomination process. Designed to support artists living outside New York City, the residency provides a three- to four-week stay in the city for the development of a specific project. The recipients of the 2026 Threading Residencies are SERAFINE1369 and Angel Shanel Edwards.
This year, sweat variant is excited to be partnering with Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya | LEIMAY, an artist-led practice and company based in Brooklyn known for its long-term interdisciplinary work in performance and embodied research, who will host London-based artist SERAFINE1369 for a month-long residency in July at LEIMAY's studio in Brooklyn. This residency is also supported by Dr. Saidiya Hartman. During their residency, SERAFINE1369 will be processing through dancing and writing, while working with what they call Oracular Practice to tune into the subtle calls of a relational body and take notes on its energetic mechanics. They will use the opportunity of a new environment to gain perspective on the work they've been doing over the last few years as they move through a transition in their practice.
In August, Philadelphia-based artist Angel Shanel Edwards will have a residency at sweat variant's studio in Brooklyn. During their residency, Edwards will explore themes of Black explosivity, Caribbean spatiotemporalities, and rhizomatic collaboration. Edwards will be studying with volcanic eruptions and Black collaborators to develop embodied scores, poetics, and songs.
“We're thrilled to expand our circle and to continue to support the fearless inquiry of these artists,” said Okpokwasili and Born.
Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya of LEIMAY stated: “We are excited to collaborate with sweat variant in hosting this residency, grounded in a belief in collaboration among artists and in access to space and time for process.”
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