2025 Guggenheim Fellowship Sees Arts Projects Funded in the Face of ‘Intellectual Life Under Attack’

Theaster Gates b. 1973, United States Follow +

Nearly one in four of this year’s recipients of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship are visual artists and photographers, with Guggenheim Foundation president Edward Hirsch saying creative thinkers are necessary to take on the challenge of the modern day.

The 198-strong centenary cohort of the Guggenheim Fellowship were selected from 53 disciplines in the arts and sciences for their achievement and ‘exceptional promise’.

The 49 visual artists represented include figures like American sculptor Theaster Gates, British-born sculptor Jilaine Jones, Austrian-born artist Ulrike Müller, multimedia artist ​​B. Ingrid Olson, and painter Raul Guerrero, Emirati-born photographer Farah Al Qasimi, photographer Lucas Blalock, artist Sara Cwynar, and Persian-American painter Maryam Safajoo.

Hirsch said the grant celebrates a century of support for visionary talent ‘at a time when intellectual life is under attack’.

He expressed confidence in the awardees’ capacity to support national challenges, including aggressive Trump administration-led federal funding cuts in the arts and education sectors.

‘We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future,’ he said.

The recipients were selected from 3,500 applicants after a peer review process and will receive stipends to pursue independent work for up to a year that have ranged from 30,000 to 45,000 USD in the past.

The Guggenheim Fellowship has awarded over 400 million USD in grants to more than 19,000 recipients since 1925.

Artists among last year’s winners included Jessica Blinkhorn, Lorraine O’Grady, Nicholas Galanin, Arvie Smith, and Ada Trillo. —[O]

Main image: Left to right: Theaster Gates. Photo: Rankin Photography Ltd; Farah Al Qasimi. Photo: Andrew J. S. Courtesy John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.