American Idol isn't the only one narrowing the field down. Artadia, The Fund for Art and Dialogue has selected 15 Houston artists as finalists in an annual competition for seven cash awards, ranging from $3,000 to $15,000.
Finalists include David Aylsworth, Natasha Bowdoin, Margarita Cabrera, Jonathan Caouette, Lily Cox-Richard, Bill Davenport, Augusto Di Stefano, Nathaniel Donnett, Francesca Fuchs, J. Hill, Kurt Mueller, Jim Nolan, Jeff Shore & Jon Fisher, Carl Suddath and Nester Topchy. They represent a broad section of Houston's visual arts community, from well established to emerging artists.
Founded in 1997 by investment banker and art collector Christopher E. Vroom, Artadia gives cash awards to artists in cities with active arts communities, such as Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Houston. Since its inception, $2 million has been given in cash awards.
Panelists Deborah Cullen, director of curatorial programs, at El Museo del Barrio, New York; Toby Kamps, senior curator at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and New York artist Adam Pendleton, winnowed the list from 230 to 15.
Monica Ramirez-Montagut, curator at Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum; Sandra Jackson-Dumont, deputy director for education and public programs at the Seattle Art Museum; and Kamps will visit all 15 artists at their studios before selecting the seven winners. The announcement will be made at the end of April.