The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA) has announced the recipients of its 2026 Grants to Artists, awarding a total of $1.08 million to twenty-four artists across various disciplines. Each artist will receive $45,000 in unrestricted funds to support their creative work.
Established in 1993, the Grants to Artists program aims to provide essential financial support to individuals engaged in dance, music and sound, performance art and theater, poetry, and the visual arts. The selection process involves nominations and evaluations by a panel that includes members of the FCA’s board of directors and guest panelists who are active in the respective fields.
Jennie C. Jones, a board member of FCA and a recipient of the 2016 Robert Rauschenberg Award, expressed excitement regarding the winners. In her statement, she noted, “We are thrilled to celebrate the twenty-four artists receiving the Grants to Artists Awards this year. Through these awards, artists actively encourage each other to experiment and help to create the conditions needed for artistic freedom.”
A number of the awards are named after celebrated artists associated with the FCA. These include the John Cage Award and the Merce Cunningham Award, both presented biennially, as well as the Viola Farber Award, the Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting, the Roy Lichtenstein Award, the Alvin Lucier Award for Music, the Robert Rauschenberg Award, the Dorothea Tanning Award, the Cy Twombly Award for Poetry, and the C.D. Wright Award for Poetry.
The following is a list of this year’s recipients categorized by their artistic discipline:
Dance
– Maggie Cloud, Brooklyn, NY (The Viola Farber Award)
– Benjamin Akio Kimitch, Brooklyn, NY
– jaamil olawale kosoko, Philadelphia (The Robert Rauschenberg Award)
– Ogemdi Ude, Brooklyn, NY
– Anh Vo, Brooklyn, NY
Music/Sound
– Onyx Ashanti, Detroit
– Olivia Block, Chicago (The Alvin Lucier Award for Music)
– Maayan Tsadka, Haifa, Israel/Palestine
Performance Art/Theater
– Lukas Avendaño, Oaxaca, Mexico
– Paul Lazar, Brooklyn, NY (The John Cage Award)
Poetry
– Brenda Coultas, New York (The C.D. Wright Award for Poetry)
– Jennifer Elise Foerster, San Francisco
– Edgar Garcia, Chicago
– Harmony Holiday, Los Angeles (The Cy Twombly Award for Poetry)
– Denise Newman, San Francisco
– Timmy Straw, Brooklyn, NY
Visual Arts
– Teresa Baker, Livingston, MT (The Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting)
– Nanette Carter, New York
– Christopher Cozier, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (The Roy Lichtenstein Award)
– Kearra Amaya Gopee, Brooklyn, NY
– Janet Olivia Henry, Jamaica, NY (This award is supported by the FCA Friends)
– Nyeema Morgan, Chicago
– Elle Pérez, New York
– Shirley Tse, Lompoc, CA (The Dorothea Tanning Award)
These grants not only provide significant financial assistance but also foster a collaborative environment where artists can thrive and innovate. The FCA continues to play a vital role in supporting contemporary art and its practitioners, nurturing creativity that can lead to new artistic expressions.
