Grants

The Astraea Lesbian Visual Arts Fund promotes the work of contemporary lesbian visual artists. Grants are awarded to artists working in an array of media including sculpture, painting, prints, mixed media and works on paper.

This year, Astraea's Visual Arts Fund issued three grant awards of $2,500 each. A third grant has been made possible by Skip's Sappho Fund, established at Astraea to honor Skip Neal, a lesbian artist who enjoyed a successful career in museum exhibition. The awards were determined by a distinguished panel of artists and art professionals via a rigorous selection process. This year's panel was composed of Torkwase Dyson, Lisa Jones, Chitra Ganesh, Linda Stein and Melissa Wolf.

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Simone Leigh

Simone Leigh (Brooklyn, NY) creates sculptures of terracotta, gold and porcelain that examine the politics of the Black female body through layered histories of colonization and resistance. The sculptures are abstract renderings of breasts, bombs, plantains, torpedoes and other signifiers. Simone was born in Chicago to Jamaican parents and graduated from Earlham College, where she studied philosophy and art. She has had residencies at the Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and Henry Street Settlement. Her work has been shown nationally at venues including Exit Art, the Painted Bride, Mementa Art Gallery and the Chicago Cultural Center.

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Dani Leventhal

Dani Leventhal (Rosendale, NY) investigates socio-political material ranging from homosexual identity and class to immigration and racism, through a variety of mediums of sculpture and installation. Her work includes interactive sculptures that invite the audience to walk, lay and sit on them. Dani earned her MFA at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and has had exhibitions and screenings both nationally and internationally. She currently teaches sculpture at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

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Deborah Kuetzpalin Vasquez*

deborah kuetzpalin vasquez (San Antonio, TX) is a Chicana raised in indigenous traditions by strong Chicana elders. She works in her local, national and international communities, bridging art-making, teaching and community action. deborah earned a BA degree from Texas Woman's University in Painting and Clay and an MFA in two and three-dimensional art from the University of Wisconsin. She has also studied in Chicago and Ocotepec, Mexico, and teaches art at local University programs and community organizations. She has exhibited her current work series, Citlali La Chicana Super Hero, a graphic novel character, both nationally and internationally, and incorporates it as a main piece of her collaborative teaching work with youth and young mothers.

*Made possible by Skip's Sappho Fund

Honorable Mentions:
A certificate of recognition was awarded to Elaine Gan, of Brooklyn, NY

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice works for social, racial and economic justice in the U.S. and internationally. Our grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy programs help lesbians and allied communities challenge oppression and claim their human rights.