Making Meaningful Environmental and Social Impact: A Check-In with 2024 Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants (AWAW EAG) Recipients

With the launch of the 2026 grant cycle, we’re highlighting what 2024 recipients were able to achieve through AWAW EAG grant funding.

The Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants (AWAW EAG) program is now open for its fifth cycle, with opportunities for women, transgender, and gender-nonconforming artists to receive up to $20,000 to support their environmental art projects that inspire thought, action, and ethical engagement.

The AWAW EAG supports environmental art projects that not only point at problems, but aim to engage an environmental issue at some scale. Proposals should illustrate thorough consideration of a project’s ecological and social ethics. Projects that explore interdependence, relationships, and systems through Indigenous and ancestral practices are encouraged to apply.

Here, we check in with a few of the 2024 AWAW EAG recipients to learn more about their work and how they engaged local communities in activities that inspired learning, sharing, and empowerment.

Yari Helfeld and Nami Helfeld; The Parade of Time; Orocovis, Puerto Rico

The Parade of Time is an artistic-educational project rooted in performing and visual arts, aimed at creating new communication channels between experts in climate change and the general public and promoting sustainability and agroecology on the island of Puerto Rico and beyond. The project connected with the community through workshops that welcomed 70 children between the ages of 6 and 16, along with 20 adults. As part of the project, and in recognition of a large deaf community on the Island, the Helfelds secured a sign language interpreter to support direct communication and involvement. The project concluded with the Community Festival “Fiesta Centinela,” where participants brought puppets to live through movement and performance in a large-scale parade. The parade characters, designed with farmers, electrical engineers, and environmental activists, encourage people to adapt their consumption habits to mitigate the effects of climate change and to care for nature with gratitude and love.

Says Yari Helfeld: “We know that we are not changing the whole Island, but we are creating a small space where respect for nature and for others is very important, where feeling good with ourselves and with the ones around us is the key and where we can dream and make those dreams come true.”

Loren Waters and Rebecca Jim; ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ (Meet Me at the Creek) Project; Miami, Oklahoma

The short film ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ (Meet Me at the Creek) tells a story of interconnectedness through a Cherokee elder Rebecca Jim, as she leads the effort to restore Tar Creek located in Miami, Oklahoma. Waters and Jim hosted rural screenings in August 2024 and established a partnership with the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program (RTCA) to enhance community engagement and technical support. They developed educational discussion guides in collaboration with Courtney Cook and L.E.A.D. Agency, and facilitated a youth storytelling workshop and summer camp in Miami, OK, to promote environmental storytelling and youth empowerment. They also organized the “In Our Image: Visions for the Future” event in Tulsa, OK, and screened the film at the Autry Museum, significantly expanding the project’s visibility and fostering intergenerational dialogue. As of Fall 2025, ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ (Meet Me at the Creek) is available for free public viewing on First Nations Experience (FNX).

Shayla Blatchford (Diné); The Anti-Uranium Mapping Project; Santa Fe, New Mexico

Blatchford’s project uses interactive digital narratives to expose the devastating impacts of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation, advocating for the preservation of Native heritage and environmental justice. Since receiving the AWAW EAG, Blatchford curated and expanded the first solo exhibition with additional photographs, maps, video interviews, and VR experiences, transforming it into an immersive, interactive educational experience. She received positive feedback from audiences, leading to invitations for upcoming exhibitions, including at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and the National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum. In 2025, Blatchford was honored with a 2025 Creative Capital Award to support the expansion of the project’s website with enhanced software for more immersive learning opportunities, and gained press coverage in Southwest Contemporary, Pasatiempo, and Source NM. Lastly, she led counter-mapping workshops to educate communities on uranium mining historical and current impacts, fostering dialogue on nuclear colonization and its ongoing environmental and social consequences.

“Receiving the AWAW Environmental Arts Grant has been transformative for both me and my project. As an artist working at the intersection of photography, mapping, and community storytelling, I often envision ambitious, multidisciplinary exhibitions that are difficult to realize without substantial support. This grant made it possible for me to curate my first solo exhibition in the way it was originally intended—expansive, immersive, and interactive.” – Shayla Blatchford

Victoria-Idongesit Udondian; ‘Okrika’ Reclaimed!; Accra, Ghana

‘Okrika’ Reclaimed! addresses the environmental crisis caused by the secondhand clothing industry in Africa, particularly in Ghana. Kantamanto, one of the world’s largest secondhand clothing markets, has become a massive open-air dump for discarded clothes, leading to significant environmental consequences. Through the AWAW EAG, Udondian hosted public events including a public installation and performance at Kantamanto Market; an “Art and Thought” conversation with Liz Johnson at FCA, Ghana; and a lecture at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The project and related events fostered public dialogue around global fashion excess and local sustainability, while modelling creative reuse through hands-on workshops and sculptural works made from unwanted garment stock in the market. The participants represented a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, including Ghanaians, Europeans, Indians, and Americans. Udondian also integrated five kayayei (women head porters) into the project, offering them a path to economic empowerment through Revival Earth’s tailoring training program–contributing to longer-term social impact.

Ana Bessie Ratner; The Other Almanac; Brooklyn, NY

The Other Almanac is a reimagining of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, updated for today’s world. With over 40 contributors, including nonnas, activists, and physicists, It still retains the quirkiness and liveliness of the original. It is a full-color, yearly publication on topics ranging from meteors to climate collapse. 

Since receiving the AWAW EAG, Ratner published the fourth edition of The Other Almanac which was celebrated with a book launch and reading. She hired a managing editor and proofreader to organize and edit the publication. In addition, she launched a free/donation-based event series, including a panel on alternative mapping, a bird walk, and planned an urban ecology film festival. The Other Almanac got press exposure through a book review in Hyperallergic, an article in Study Hall, and an interview feature in Dark Properties.

Says Ratner: “Getting the AWAW grant was by far the most helpful thing that has happened since starting The Other Almanac. Every year after we sell all the copies we barely break even. I’ve never gotten paid, I’ve never been able to hire someone, I’ve never had a proofreader, or been able to do events. This year I still didn’t get paid, but I got to expand into all the things I’ve been wanting to thanks to AWAW. It’s been an incredible opportunity and the grant has had many ripple effects throughout The Other Almanac community.”

For the 2026 cycle, the program will distribute over $470,000 in funding. The AWAW EAG is made possible by Anonymous Was A Woman with additional funding provided by individual donors. The 2026 cycle of the AWAW EAG program is open now through 5:00 PM ET Tuesday, April 7. 

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