California Community Foundation Announces 2022 Fellowship for Visual Artist Fellows

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Community Foundation (CCF) has named 12 Los Angeles County artists as recipients of the CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists (FVA), totaling $480,000 in unrestricted grants. The announcement comes after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Fellows will each receive an unrestricted grant of $40,000, which is an investment in the artist's career rather than a singular project. They also receive access to career development support and networking opportunities.

"If ever there was a time when we needed the arts to help us collectively heal after all we have endured, this is the time," said Antonia Hernández, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. "CCF is proud to support our Fellowship for Visual Artists fellows in their artistic careers and we celebrate their commitment to transforming communities through their work. Each of our fellows embody the future of arts in LA."

FVA is one of the most prestigious arts fellowships in the region, which helps artists build successful, sustainable careers that support the thriving Los Angeles arts scene. The grants are often used to develop new work and fund exhibits, travel or general expenses. This year, 512 applications were received in a wide range of visual arts disciplines and reviewed by a panel of five distinguished artists and art professionals. The panel considered the artist's entire career and future promise in the selection of this year's fellows.

The 2022 FVA fellows are: April Banks (Interdisciplinary-Mixed Media); Nao Bustamante (Interdisciplinary-Mixed Media); Enrique Castrejon (Installation); Patty Chang (Interdisciplinary-Mixed Media); June Edmonds (Painting); Reanne Estrada (Interdisciplinary-Mixed Media); Asher Hartman (Installation and Experimental Film and Video); Iris Yirei Hu (Installation); Phung Huynh (Painting); Young Joon Kwak (Interdisciplinary-Mixed Media); Sandra Low (Painting); and Suné Woods (Experimental Film and Video).  

"As a Southeast Asian refugee, artist, educator, community advocate and single parent, I persist in integrating the most significant aspects of my life," said 2022 FVA fellow Phung Huynh. "I learn to situate my art in community spaces and look at narratives that are not fully represented. The greatest challenge is time and funding to support my work. The CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists will significantly impact what I do, deepen my artistic practice, and afford me the opportunity for community-based projects I have been dreaming to make. I appreciate how this fellowship demonstrates the need to value artists as essential cultural builders." 

FVA was officially launched in 1988 through a gift from the J. Paul Getty Trust to create a Fund for visual artists to recognize the outstanding talent of Los Angeles-based visual artists and arts organizations. Over the last 34 years, FVA has given more than $6 million in unrestricted funds to over 300 artists. Past recipients include distinguished artists, Carolina Caycedo, Beatriz Cortez, Rosten Woo, Mark Greenfield, and Andrea Bowers, among others.

"We need to help our artists thrive if Los Angeles wants to remain one of the world's great creative cities," says Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty Foundation. "Getty is grateful for the opportunity to have seeded FVA, which has nurtured so many outstanding, diverse artists who call Southern California home. We congratulate this year's fellows, and we can't wait to see their artistic visions continue to develop and grow."

This effort has been supported through the continued generosity of the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts and sustaining contributions from, the Brody Arts Fund, the T.M. and R.W. Brown Fund, the Jennie Strong Memorial Fund, the Joan Palevsky Endowment for the Future of Los Angeles, the Rose Anne Rice Charitable Fund and other CCF funds. 

The California Community Foundation (CCF) has served as a public, charitable organization for Los Angeles County since 1915. Its mission is to lead positive systemic change that strengthens Los Angeles communities. CCF stewards $2.5 billion in assets and manages 1,800 charitable foundations, funds and legacies. For more information, please visit calfund.org.

For more information about the FVA fellows and to view their galleries please click here.

To find out how you can support FVA, please visit us here. One-hundred percent of contributions to the FVA go directly to artists.

Contact: Paula Valle Castanon, [email protected]
(213) 452-6233, (323) 253-6431(cell)

SOURCE California Community Foundation