Three UNT CVAD alumnae of five recipients win 2022 Nasher Artist Grants
embroidery on fabric, 6 x 6 inches.
The Nasher Sculpture Center announces the winners of the 2022 Nasher Artist Grants, a program that provides annual financial support to North Texas artists through the distribution of grants that may be used to fund the purchasing of equipment and materials, travel or research, studio space, or artist-run curatorial projects.
From UNT, the 2022 grant awardees are Ari Brielle, 2016, B.A., Interdisciplinary Art and Design, Liss LaFleur, 2011, B.F.A. and associate professor of Studio Art, and Tina B. Medina, 2013, M.A., Art Education.
The 2022 winners were chosen by a jury that included artists Mel Chin, Lauren Cross, Karla Garcia, and Cynthia Mulcahy. Nasher Associate Curator Leigh Arnold and Nasher Curator of Education Anna Smith serve on the jury on an annual basis. Each Nasher Artist Grant awardee will receive $2,000 to realize projects related to their practice.
"In a year when so many artists, like so many people around the country, face economic and political challenges, the Nasher is proud to offer support to the artistic community of North Texas," says Curator of Education Anna Smith. "This year's awardees call attention to important voices, from the visionary to the domestic, and shine a light on marginalized communities. The jury is pleased to highlight this meaningful work and contribute to these artists' development and success."
The 2022 Nasher Artist Grants are made possible by support from Ann and Chris Mahowald and Leigh Rinearson.
Ari Brielle
After receiving a diagnosis of endometriosis, artist Ari Edwards, who is from Allen, Texas, turned the focus of her art to explore how Black women often suffer from reproductive diseases at higher rates than their non-black counterparts due to generational trauma, and documented inequities in the U.S. healthcare system, higher stress, and less access to healthy foods. Through photography, drawing, and painting, Edwards is processing her diagnosis and its implications, while framing it within the broader context of health and wellness for Black women in this country, and will use her Nasher Artist Grant to fund an exhibition about the subject this fall in San Antonio. The series consists of self-portrait paintings, drawings of family photos, and photographs printed on silk of her body after surgery. AriBrielle.com
Liss LaFleur
Liss LaFleur of Denton, Texas, will use her Nasher Artist Grant to fund future exhibitions of The Queer Birth Project, a five-year initiative that seeks to promote inclusion by sharing the birth experiences of queer (LGBTQ+) people in the United States. The structure of this project is based on a radical re-envisioning of feminist artist Judy Chicago's Birth Project (1980-85) and includes a new national survey, a collection of visual artworks for exhibition, and a series of publications. This project is made collaboratively with Katherine Sobering, UNT associate professor of sociology. Given the landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the cascading effects of the ruling on everything from bodily autonomy to marriage equality, the project seeks to promote access and support for reproductive healthcare, not just for the queer community but for everyone, expanding cultural ideas relating to the body, birth, and family building. LissLaFleur.com
Tina B. Medina
Tina Medina of Dallas will use her Nasher Artist Grant to fund a documentarian project that captures the current cultural identity — the voices, memories, histories, and faces — of Oak Cliff, Dallas, a neighborhood that has ebbed and flowed with various ethnicities and economic classes throughout Dallas history and is now rapidly changing due to gentrification and the influx of developers and property tax changes. For the project, Medina will create audio records of personal family histories and of individuals from various backgrounds who live in the neighborhood, which will then be incorporated into an audio-visual installation. The visual installation will include non-literal portraits of the individuals and families, with the intention of conveying the importance of their contributions to the local community and the culture of our nation. TinaMedina.com
