NEW YORK, N.Y.- Anonymous Was A Woman announced the ten artists selected to receive the Foundation’s sixteenth annual awards. The “no strings” grant of $25,000 enables women, over 45 years of age and at a critical juncture in their lives or careers, to continue to grow and pursue their work.
2011 Award Winners
• Eleanor Antin - Artist
• Linda Besemer - Painter
• Dara Birnbaum - Visual Artist
• Andrea Bowers - Artist
• Ann Hamilton - Artist / Installation
• Yoko Inoue - Visual Artist
• Jungjin Lee - Artist / Photographer
• Mary Miss - Artist
• Sheila Pepe - Artist
• Judith Shea - Sculptor
Lauren Katzowitz Shenfield, director of the program, explained, “Anonymous Was A Woman Awards are synonymous with important recognition in artists’ personal and artistic development. The financial gift helps artists buy time, space, materials, and equipment, often at early stages of a new project, and, sometimes, recover from traumatic life events. In itself, the Award helps artists feel recognized and honored by other distinguished women who seek no credit for the role they play.”
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 unnamed.
To date, 161 women have received the award. Each year, an outstanding group of distinguished women – art historians, curators, writers and previous winners – serve as nominators.
“The experience of having my painting publicly validated and recognized by my peers and the art community at large has been enormously gratifying. It’s a huge boost,” said one previous winner. The award helped a photographer re-connect with another art form…drawing. “I set up a studio and returned to making drawings after thirty years. It's impossible to say what impact the reintroduction of this medium will have on my photography, but it is certain that without this grant, I might never have had the opportunity to be reunited with my passion for this medium from so many years ago.”
Anonymous Was A Woman, a program of FJC-A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, is administered by Philanthropy Advisors, LLC, a comprehensive consulting and management organization for private philanthropy.
