U-M's Stamps Gallery Receives $80K In Andy Warhol Foundation Support

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts recently announced that the Stamps Gallery in downtown Ann Arbor will be the recipient of an $80,000 grant to support public exhibitions, public programs and publications dedicated to exploring inclusive, equitable futures through the lens of contemporary art practice.

Part of the University of Michigan Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, the Stamps Gallery presents original exhibitions and public programs that focus largely on shining a spotlight on artists and designers who use creative work to catalyze social change.

The Stamps Gallery is directed by award-winning curator and writer Srimoyee Mitra, whose approach to organizing exhibitions and selecting artists acknowledges the intergenerational and cultural losses endured through colonial and racial violence in North America that marginalize women, queer, indigenous and racialized communities from all walks of life, including the art world.

Spanning two years of programming, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts grant will support six exhibitions and corresponding programs, as well as launch the gallery's publications program.

Exhibitions include work by artists micha cárdenas, Oliver Husain, Elizabeth LaPensée, Meryl McMaster, Syrus Marcus Ware, Osman Khan, Razi Jafri, Stephanie Dinkins, Dylan Miner and Sheila de Bretteville. The foundation will also support an exhibition of LaToya Ruby Frazier's photography series "Flint is Family," which will be shown in the Midwest for the first time at the Stamps Gallery in fall 2020.

The grant will also serve to support an exhibition publication for "Envision: The Michigan Artist Initiative," the gallery's inaugural and statewide award program designed to support the development of contemporary artists living and working in Michigan.

"Through meaningful dialogues with artists of diverse and multigenerational backgrounds, our goal is to inspire and evoke conversations on socially and culturally relevant issues that inform the concerns of artists' works in the 21st century," Mitra said. "Recognition and support from the Warhol Foundation is an important milestone in our efforts-and we are very grateful."