The Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation announced last week the latest cohort of the Latinx Artists Fellowship, a multi-year initiative administered by the US Latinx Art Forum (USLAF) in collaboration with the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Now in its second year, the fellowship recognizes 15 of the most compelling Latinx visual artists working in the United States today and aims to address the systemic lack of support, visibility, and patronage for Latinx visual artists, individuals of Latin American or Caribbean descent, born or residing in the United States.
“USLAF is excited to continue our mission to advocate and uplift the important work of Latinx artists,” said Rose Salseda, Ph.D., Associate Director, US Latinx Art Forum. “The second cohort, as the first, represents the dynamic range of aesthetic practices that speak to the complex and diverse experiences of Latinxs throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico.”
The 2022 Latinx artist grantees, announced on May 12, include Brooklyn-based painter Candida Alvarez, Californian Jay Lynn Gomez, and Cuban-born artist Juana Valdes.
The first such initiative was launched in 2021, with a combined commitment of $5 million from the Mellon and Ford Foundations to provide $50,000 in unrestricted funds each to a total of 75 Latinx visual artists through 2025. The additional funds support grant administration and capacity building at USLAF.
“As the Latinx Artist Fellowship enters its second year, we at Mellon are energized by the extraordinary sweep of work these fifteen artists envision and create and the powerful perspectives and stories they bring to the visual arts,” said Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation. “We congratulate this second cohort of fellows and are proud to join with Ford in supporting the US Latinx Art Forum.”
As explained by the Mellon Foundation in a press release, the 2022 class of fellows was chosen to reflect the diversity that exists within the Latinx community, highlighting the practices of female-identified, queer, and non-binary artists, as well as those from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, ranging from Chicanax and Ecuadorian-American to Afro-Cuban and indigenous.
“We are thrilled to partner with Mellon and the US Latinx Art Forum to welcome and celebrate the second cohort of Latinx Artist Fellows,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “These fifteen visual artists bring an unmatched breadth of perspectives and practices to the initiative and have made an indelible impact on American art today.”
The cohort includes artists working in places such as Baroda, Michigan; Farmington, New Mexico; San Anton, Carolina, Puerto Rico; and Nashville, Tennessee, while the aesthetic practices represented by the fellows span installation art, abstraction, and performance, as well as contemporary craft, textile, and fiber-based work.
The 2022 Latinx Fellows are:
Tanya Aguiñiga
she/her/ella
Craft Based Artist and Activist
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Maria Gaspar
she/her/hers
Interdisciplinary Artist
Lives and works in Chicago, IL
Candida Alvarez
she/her
Visual Artist and Painter
Lives and works in Baroda, MI, and Chicago, IL
Jay Lynn Gomez
she/hers
Painting and Sculpture Artist
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Amalia Mesa-Bains
she/her
Installation Artist, Curator, and Writer
Lives and works in Monterey, CA and San Francisco, CA
Juana Valdés
she/her/ella
Multidisciplinary Artist
Lives and works in Miami, FL, and New York, NY
María Magdalena Campos Pons
she/her
Multimedia Artist
Lives and works in Nashville, TN
Carmelita Tropicana
she/her
Writer and Performance Artist
Lives and works in New York, NY
Leslie Martinez
they/them
Visual Artist and Painter
Lives and works in Dallas, TX
Lucia Hierro
she/her
Sculpture and Installation Artist
Lives and works in New York, NY
Koyoltzintli
she/her/hers
Interdisciplinary Artist
Lives and works in New York, NY
Las Nietas de Nonó
they/them
Multidisciplinary Artists
Lives and works in
San Antón, Carolina, Puerto Rico
Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
she/her
Contemporary Fiber Artist
Lives and works in Gualala, CA
Rosemary Meza-DesPlas
she/her/ella
Multidisciplinary Artist
Lives and works in Farmington, NM
Vincent Valdez
he/his
Visual Artist and Painter
Lives and works in Houston, TX
