Absolute Arts: In-depth
Arts News
"Anonymous Was a
Woman Awards 10 Women Artists with $25,000 Grants"
Anonymous Was A Woman
Anonymous Was A Woman has announced the 10 artists
selected to receive the Foundation’s ninth annual awards. The “no strings”
grant of $25,000 enables women over 35, at a critical juncture in their lives
or careers, to continue to grow, recover from traumatic life events, and pursue
their work. Lauren Katzowitz
Shenfield, administrator of the program,
explained, “Anonymous Was A Woman Awards have become
synonymous with important recognition at a crucial stage in the artists’
careers. The financial gift helps artists buy time, space, materials, and
equipment, and the award itself helps them feel worthy in their chosen
pursuit.”
The name of the grant
program, Anonymous Was A Woman, refers to a line in Virginia Wolf’s A Room of One’s Own. As the name implies, the nominators and those
associated with the program are un-named, and artists are unaware that they are
being considered for the award. Winners are often stunned by the news, once
even calling back in the middle of the night to confirm that it wasn’t a dream.
Apart from the financial
assistance that the artists receive, the grant validates their work and their
self-worth. In a letter written to the foundation, an earlier recipient said,
“I am in such gratitude for this money. It was such a great gift. Most
importantly, it seemed energetically, to have broken the stagnation of my
career. If I could just wrap my arms around the wonderful woman responsible for
this, I would.”
Another previous recipient
explained, “For a woman things don’t get easier as one gets older, they get
harder…[I]n my experience, the backlash becomes stronger and stronger against
those women who have chosen or fallen outside of societal norms in terms of
career, marriage and family. I’ve never felt the weight of society’s judgment
more since I turned forty...The grant bought me hard tools of the trade so that
I could continue working. The grant bought me time. It bought me confidence…I
wish I could get this grant again and again.”
To date, 91 women have
received the award. Each year, an outstanding group of distinguished women –
art historians, curators, and writers - nominate artists for the award.
Anonymous Was A Woman is administered by Philanthropy Advisors – A Service of UJA-Federation of
For more information, call
Lauren Katzowitz Shenfield
212 836 1358
or write to:
anonwasawoman @ aol.com
The 2004 Anonymous Was A Woman grant recipients are:
Janet Biggs
Video Installation-
Moyra Davey
Visual Artist/Photographer-
Liz Deschenes
Visual Artist/Photographer-Brooklyn, NY
Jessica Diamond
Visual Artist-
Joy Garnett
Painter and Media Artist-
Elizabeth Lyons
Sculptor-
Sarah McEneaney
Visual Artist/Painter-Philadelphia, PA
J.
Transdisciplinary Artist-Beach Lake
Alison Saar
Visual Artist/Sculptor-
Carmelita Tropicana
Performance Artist-
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