For Immediate Release
TRELLIS ART FUND AWARDS $420,000 TO ARTISTS WITH NEW STEPPING STONE GRANTS
TWENTY ONE FELLOWS TO EACH BE AWARDED $20,000
New York, NY – January 15, 2025 – Trellis Art Fund, a private foundation committed to supporting the work of individual artists via grants and professional development, announces the Stepping Stone Grants, a new initiative that will provide $420,000 of unrestricted funding per year awarded to 21 artists who will receive $20,000 each. Henceforth, the organization’s previously announced $100,000 awards will be known as Milestone grants.
During the application and juried process for the Milestone grant, Trellis leadership observed the sheer number of deserving artists at various career stages in need of further support. The Stepping Stone grant program was therefore established to advance already-promising artistic practices through smaller grants.
“In finalizing our initial round of grants in July selected from a marvelously talented pool of nominated artists, we realized that there was a need to do more,” shared Corina Larkin, Executive Director. “Our hope is that the Stepping Stone grants will provide these artists with new opportunities - however they define them - and enable them to work in new ways.”
Both the Stepping Stone and Milestone grants are designed to encourage artists to “keep going” in the distinct practice they’ve developed. Stepping Stone grantees will be involved with Trellis over the course of one year, while the Milestone grants entail funding, professional development, and a retreat which happens over the course of two years.
Trellis Art Fund reserves a portion of grants for artists who are caregivers. In addition to expanding its grant program, Trellis Art Fund has expanded its definition of “caregiver”, previously defined as artists who are parents of children under twelve. Three Stepping-Stone grants were awarded to artists who are caregivers to children, seniors (such as parents), and other family members in need. The 21 Stepping Stone grantees range from 34 to 73 years in age, and hail from across the United States, including 10 states, and 15 cities.
Advisory Board member David Evans Frantz says, “This intergenerational group of twenty-one terrific artists enriches the cultural landscape of the United States, each through their own practice and perspective. There is no better way for Trellis to kick off 2025 than by highlighting the importance of their work.”
The 2024 Stepping Stone Grantees are:
Rogelio Báez Vega (b. 1974) | Santurce, PR
Teresa Baker (b. 1985) | Los Angeles, CA
Suzanne Bocanegra (b. 1957) | New York, NY
Jamal Cyrus (b. 1973) | Houston, TX
Sofía Córdova (b. 1985) | Puerto Rico and Oakland, CA
Sonya Clark (b. 1967) | Amherst, MA
Liz Deschenes (b. 1966) | New York, NY
Jeremy Frey (b. 1978) | Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation, ME
Muriel Hasbun (b. 1961) | Silver Spring, MD
Scott Hocking (b. 1975) | Detroit, MI
Heesoo Kwon (b. 1990) | San Francisco, CA
B. Ingrid Olson (b. 1987) | Chicago, IL
Sheila Pepe (b. 1959) | New York, NY
Mary Lum (b. 1951) | North Adams, MA
Guadalupe Rosales (b. 1980) | Los Angeles, CA
Rayyane Tabet (b. 1983) | San Francisco, CA
Javier Téllez (b. 1969) | New York, NY
José Villalobos (b. 1988) | San Antonio, TX
Paula Wilson (b. 1975) | Carrizozo, NM
Yu-Wen Wu (b. 1958) | Boston, MA
Takako Yamaguchi (b. 1952)| Santa Monica, CA
Stepping Stone Grantees were selected from a nomination pool of more than 150 artists recommended by more than 75 curators, historians, artists, and other nationwide art world professionals. The 21 artists were selected by an anonymous jury. Guiding Trellis’ overall process have been the five members of the Advisory Board: writer/curator David Evans Frantz, curator Marcela Guerrero, artist Arlene Shechet, curator/educator Akili Tommasino, and writer/curator Eugenie Tsai.
The Stepping Stone Grantees will join Trellis Art Fund’s inaugural cohort of Milestone Grantees, announced in July 2024, forming a diverse and growing network of mutually supportive creatives.
About Trellis Art Fund
Trellis Art Fund is a private organization based in New York City, dedicated to providing support to individual artists so they may pursue their creative endeavors. The foundation envisions a world where the work of individual artists is recognized for its intrinsic value. Trellis believes that visual art offers essential benefits to humanity, both as the quintessential expression of our times and as an unparalleled means to understand ourselves and connect with other human beings, and that its practitioners deserve recognition and sustained support to cultivate their work. To achieve this, Trellis creates a community wherein artists are supported as they deepen and expand their practices. Learn more at www.trellisartfund.org.
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