The Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists is an annual $10,000 grant awarded to provide critical support to Black trans women whose work has often been under-recognized in the visual art field.

Now in its 5th year, the Illuminations Grant was developed and named in partnership with Mariette Pathy Allen, Aaryn Lang, and Serena Jara. Winning artists and finalists will receive additional professional development resources and further guidance to bolster their creative development in the field.

“The Illuminations Grant not only highlights the lacking representation of Black trans women in the visual arts,” says Lang, “but also seeks to confront the systemic barriers that deny them artistic opportunities and a sustainable craft.

By supporting this grant, Mariette Pathy Allen challenges herself and the art industry to see Black trans women as more than mere subjects, while forging a new pathway for visual artists within this community to thrive.”   

ABOUT

The Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists, a $10,000 grant, supports visual artists who are Black trans women. This grant is made possible entirely through support provided by visual artist Mariette Pathy Allen, whose body of photographic work over the last forty years has been squarely focused on expanding cultural consciousness around gender and transformation. The development of this grant was stewarded by consultant and writer Aaryn Lang, working in collaboration with Mariette Pathy Allen, Serena Jara, and Queer|Art. In order to further recognize finalists for their artistic achievements, Queer|Art is pleased to announce that the grant will also provide a $1,250 award to four distinguished finalists.

The llluminations Grant is administered through Queer|Art with a rotating panel of judges, each of whom will conduct a studio visit with the winning artist as part of the award’s focus on supporting creative and professional development. Judges for the 2025 grant cycle include Legacy Russell, Jordyn Jay, and Lee Laa Ray Guillory. Queer|Art staff will also provide the winning artist and finalists with consultations and further access to many of the tools they have developed in conjunction with the organization’s cornerstone creative and professional development program, Queer|Art|Mentorship.

Qualified artists must be Black trans women working in visual art and based in the United States. Applications are open March 31, 2025–July 2, 2025.

For questions, email Queer|Art Design & Marketing Manager, Andrius Alvarez-Backus at andrius@queer-art.org.

APPLY

APPLICATIONS OPEN – MARCH 31st, 2025
COMPLETE APPLICATION – JULY 2nd, 2025

What information does the application require?

• Contact info, narrative bio, and headshot

• Demographic information

• One sentence description of your artistic practice

• Two short essay questions on your artistic practice

• 2 references that can speak to your practice

• CV

• Work samples (12 samples maximum, details below)

Work Sample Specifications:

Choose from any of the following formats to upload work samples that best represent your practice.

Allowed Media Types:

• Images (up to 10MB each)

• Video (up to 500MB each)

• PDFs (up to 20MB each)

• External media from YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud

Images do not have to be a particular size, as SlideRoom’s servers will process them to fit their system. Their processors will resize anything larger than 1280 x 1280 x 72 ppi to fit within those limitations.

Image file formats accepted: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .tif, .tiff, .bmp, .tga
Video file formats accepted: .m4v, .mov, .mp4, .wmv, .flv, .asf, .mpeg, .mpg, .mkv

Please include title, medium, year, and brief description of each work sample.

Note: Application fees for all applicants have been waived.

Apply here

Questions? Please carefully review our Frequently Asked Questions before contacting us with questions about the grant or application process. Thank you!

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