Under-Recognized Artists Get $10K Each With New Brooklyn Grant

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — Ten under-the-radar artists got a huge boost this week with a new $10,000 grant from a Brooklyn nonprofit.

BRIC announced that it will be giving out $100,000 to a slate of under-recognized artists based in New York City through a new award called the Colene Brown Art Prize, which is named for the late mother of one of the organization's board members.

The winning group of 10 artists ranging from 30 to 74 years old were announced Tuesday and will each get $10,000 of unrestricted money.

“With the awards, I hope to aid an outstanding group of artists in the pursuit of their dreams and at the same time recognize the role of not-for-profit cultural institutions like BRIC that make a transformational difference in their communities," said Deborah Brown, the board member whose family organization funded the prize.

The ten artists include painters, photographers, sculptors and even a crocheter. All 10 now live in New York, but hail from across the country and the world, including those that were born as far as Trinidad or China.

Here is a list of this year's winners:

• Manuel Acevedo (b. in Newark, NJ; based in the Bronx, NY)
• Nicole Awai (b. in Port of Spain, Trinidad; based in Brooklyn, NY)
• Xenobia Bailey (b. in Seattle, WA; based in New York, NY)
• Nona Faustine (b. in New York; based in Brooklyn, NY)
• Alicia Grullón (b. in New York; based in the Bronx, NY)
• Baseera Khan (b. in Denton, TX; based in Brooklyn, NY)
• Heidi Lau (b. in Macau, China; based in New York, NY)
• Christopher Myers (b. in Queens, NY; based in Brooklyn)
• Judith Simonian (b. in Los Angeles, CA; based in New York, NY)
• Kennedy Yanko (b. in St. Louis, MO; based in Brooklyn, NY)

The winners were chosen from a group of 50 artists that were nominated by New York City-based curators, critics and other artists. The nominations were told to choose artists that have yet to receive substantial institutional support, but were deserving of the prize.

BRIC will honor the winners at their gala in November.