Introducing the 2025 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Finalists, and Panelists

$753,000 awarded to 99 New York State artists working in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design, Choreography, Music/Sound, Photography, and Playwriting/Screenwriting.

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has announced the recipients and finalists of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program, which it has administered for the past 40 years with leadership support from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). NYFA has awarded a total of $753,000 to 99 artists (including 7 collaborations) throughout New York State, whose ages range from 25-79 years, in the following disciplines: Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design, Choreography, Music/Sound, Photography, and Playwriting/Screenwriting.

A complete list of the Fellows and Finalists follows.

The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Program makes unrestricted cash grants of $8,000 to artists working in 15 disciplines, recognizing five disciplines per year on a triennial basis. Finalists were also recognized with unrestricted cash grants of $1,000. The program is highly competitive, and this year’s recipients and finalists were selected from 3,672 applicants in discipline-specific peer-review panels. Since it was launched in 1985, the program has awarded over $36.5+ million to 5,611 artists.

Each year, the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship provides a lens for contemporary artistic expression. The themes, ideas, and materials used by the 2025 Fellows reflect and respond to the larger social, political, and economic issues of our day. Artists across categories are exploring topics including diasporic and immigrant identity; gender, race, and sexuality; environmental and disability justice; and civic engagement. 

• Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design Fellows are using living or natural materials as core elements in their work to explore cycles of growth, decay, and regeneration. Many are considering the geographic and cultural context of their work, with strong community tie-ins. A few applications introduced virtual architecture, AI integration, or digital storytelling, opening new discussions on what constitutes a structure or built environment.
• Choreography Fellows are conveying intimacy, tension, or vulnerability through nuanced movement choices and pacing, sometimes introducing interdisciplinary artforms and theatrical devices such as spoken word, character development, or narrative structure into their work. The inclusion of diverse bodies, abilities, and gender expressions on stage were noted as both meaningful and reflective of broader shifts in the field.
• Music/Sound Fellows’ work spans Classical, Hip-hop, Jazz, Blues, Experimental Pop, and Sound Art, with demonstrated technical excellence and originality. Artists grounded in lived experience—particularly via immigrant, multicultural, and queer communities—often delivered resonant and grounded submissions. Some combined genres or used unique instrumentation to explore identity, history, or social issues.
• Photography Fellows demonstrated a clear viewpoint and a meaningful connection between content and form, working in both the documentary and conceptual styles. Many artists explored themes of cultural identity, gender, queerness, and ancestry, conveying a personal perspective alongside a broader societal context. Some artists stood out for using alternative processes or integrating other disciplines (sculpture, collage, etc.). 
• Playwriting/Screenwriting Fellows included one of the broadest stylistic ranges among the disciplines reviewed, with work samples spanning horror, political satire, historical drama, musicals, animated plays, and personal memoir. Many submissions centered Black, Asian American, Latinx, Jewish, immigrant, and queer narratives and communities. Submissions addressing topics such as current events, disability, colonialism, and environmental justice demonstrated the role of dramatic writing as a vehicle for civic engagement and personal healing.

“The type of unrestricted funding that the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program offers is invaluable to artists—meaning that they can use it however they deem fit in their lives and careers,” said Michael Royce, CEO, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). “We’re proud to have offered this support and validation to artists across New York State in partnership with NYSCA for 40 years. Alumni have gone on to become some of the most accomplished artists of their generations; for any and all it is one route towards dedicating more time and resources to their ever-evolving practices. Perhaps even better is that we see not only first-time grant recipients but also artists who’ve received support over the course of their careers,” he added.

Said Erika Mallin, Executive Director of NYSCA: “When we support artists, we give them the greatest gift: the freedom to create. This fellowship has seeded the careers of so many artists, all who educate and  inspire us. Congratulations to all of this year’s awardees. Your work drives New York’s unparalleled creative sector and global influence. We look forward to your continued creativity and achievements.”

In addition to no-strings-attached financial support, the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship provides encouragement for artists at all career stages and creative disciplines to continue making work.

On receiving a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design, Buffalo, NY-based Joyce Hwang said: “As an architect who works to advocate for the environment and climate justice, I am grateful for the privilege to live in a state that supports its community of artists. This award will be used toward supporting exploratory phases of an upcoming, self-initiated environmental design project. Innovating research-oriented artistic work is only possible through grants such as this one, and for that, I am very appreciative of NYSCA and NYFA.”

For Joey Merlo, a Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting based in Brooklyn, NY, the award offers much-needed financial support: “Sixty percent of New York City artists live below the poverty line and I’m one of them. I often have to have two or more jobs to support myself because, despite being a produced playwright, I have not been able to make a living as one. It has become increasingly hard for not only artists–but all New Yorkers–to have their basic needs met. This award takes a little bit of the financial burden of living in New York (a city I love) off my back. It means that I can take some time off from gig work to finish a draft of a new play or join rehearsals for a production–hopefully there will be one! I’m grateful for this award and for NYFA–which not only believes in artists but supports them.”

Said Priscila De Carvalho, a Fellow in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design based in Queens, NY: “Receiving this award is a meaningful affirmation of my practice and how it engages space, community, and the built environment. It encourages me to keep pushing boundaries, creating spaces that are not only seen, but felt, inhabited, and remembered.”

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding is provided by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation (one visual arts fellow), Joy of Giving Something (five photography fellows), the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Lawrence Foundation (one literary arts fellow), and individual donors.

Fellowship Recipients and Finalists by Discipline and County of Residence:

Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design

Fellows
Priscila De Carvalho (Queens)
Nicole Hixon (Orange)
Joyce Hwang (Erie)
Shervone Neckles (Queens)
Matthias Neumann (Kings)
Yunielis Clemente and Pahlii (Erie)*
Randi Renate (Franklin)
Rachel Rossin (New York)
Razvan Voroneanu and Amy Shell (New York)*
Chat Travieso (Bronx)
Natalie Collette Wood (Bronx)

Finalists
Gal Nissim (New York)
Marisa Prefer (Kings)
Shagun Singh (Nassau)

Panelists
Dylan Gauthier (Queens)
Karin Giusti (Sullivan)
Dario Mohr (New York)
Cansu Peker (Columbia)
Jieun Yang (Kings)

Choreography

Fellows
Baye & Asa (Kings)*
Ephrat Asherie (Kings)
Kayla Farrish (Kings)
Keerati Jinakunwiphat (Kings)
Sun Kim (New York)
Gabrielle Lamb (New York)
Loni Landon (New York)
Annie Rigney (Kings)
Jesse Obremski and Jie-Hung Connie Shiau (New York)*
Rebeca Tomás (Westchester)
Ogemdi Ude (Kings)
Netta Yerushalmy (New York)
Yue Yin (New York)

Finalists
Marla Phelan (New York)
Elizabeth Streb (Kings)
Christian Warner (New York)

Panelists
Michael Bishop (Kings)
Kim Engel (Saratoga)
Baba Oludaré (New York)
Adesola Osakalumi (Bronx)
Noah Wang (Kings)

Music/Sound

Fellows
Dave Adewumi (New York)
Andy Algire (Rockland)
Alexis P. Suter Band (Broome)*
Ali Bello (Queens)
Ayman Boujlida (Kings)
Sidiki Conde (New York)
Laura Elkeslassy (Kings)
Amir ElSaffar (Kings)
EMEL (Kings)*****
Shawn Feeney (Ulster)
Sarah Hennies (Dutchess)
Diana Herold (Dutchess)
Arta Jēkabsone (Kings)
Jamile (New York)
DeShawn Jenkins (Orange)
Utsav Lal (Kings)
Maria Linares (New York)
Sister Mary Margaret (Erie)
Sofía Rei (Kings)
SunDub (Kings)*
Alex Weiser (New York)
Y.N.X.716 (Erie)

Finalists
beccs (Columbia)
Albert Marquès (Kings)
Claire G McClusky (Monroe)

Panelists
Ina Beilina (Kings)
Christopher Howard (Suffolk)
Orlondo Hundley (Schenectady)
Neophytos Ioannou (Queens)
Hubby Jenkins (Queens)
Amirtha Kidambi (Kings)
Gina Holsopple (Oswego)
Lázara Martínez (Erie)
Harrison Nir (Columbia)
Ash Shirazi (New York)

Photography

Fellows
Maria Antelman (New York)
Daveed Baptiste (Kings)
Shweta Bist (New York)**
Louis Chavez (Monroe)***
Steven Molina Contreras (New York)
Jason Crowley (Kings)
Leah DeVun (Kings)
Ryan Frigillana (Nassau)***
Jackie Furtado (Dutchess)***
Diana Guerra (Kings)
Clifford Prince King (Kings)
Andrew Kung (Kings)
Mandana Mahdavi (Kings)
Spandita Malik (Kings)
Ruth Lauer Manenti (Greene)***
Tanya Marcuse (Dutchess)***
Xavier Scott Marshall (Kings)
DeSean McClinton-Holland (Kings)
Christopher Perez (New York)
Scott Rossi (Kings)
Pacifico Silano (Kings)
Donavon Smallwood (New York)
Rachelle Anayansi Mozman Solano (Kings)
Lieh Sugai (Queens)

Finalists
Irma Bohórquez-Geisler (Richmond)
Kyle Lui (Kings)
Martha Naranjo Sandoval (Kings)

Panelists
Alli Arnold (Kings)
Bridget Badore (Pennellville)
Esther Boesche (Kings)
Marina Chao (Ulster)
Chaya Howell (Kings)
Amiko Li (Kings)
Karina Aguilera Skvirsky (New York)
Bea Oyster (New York)

Playwriting/Screenwriting

Fellows
baboubalèg (Kings)
Eunice Chen (Queens)
Cindy Chu (Queens)
Alice Eve Cohen (New York)
Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas (New York)
Mary Craig (Erie)
Mirta Desir (Kings)
John-Henry Hirozawa (Kings)
Ran Jing (New York)
Sushma Khadepaun (Dutchess)
Zizi Majid (Onondaga)
Lilian T. Mehrel (Kings)****
Joey Merlo (Kings)
Laura Moss and Brendan O’Brien (Kings)*
Azure D. Osborne-Lee (Kings)
María Pérez-Goméz (Erie)******
Audley Puglisi (Kings)
Andrew Saito (Kings)
Christy Smith-Sloman (New York)
Jeremy Tiang (Queens)
Mallory Jane Weiss (Kings)
Marcus Yi (Suffolk)

Finalists
A.C. Cole (Ulster)
L.J. Coleman (Monroe)
Terron Jones (Bronx)

Panelists
Nkenna Akunna (Bronx)
Bryce Goodloe (Kings)
Jiawen Hu (Queens)
Durra Leung (Queens)
Devin Porter (Dutchess)
Margaret Rhee (Queens)
Brandon Rumaker (Kings)
Ketriana Yvonne (Kings)

*Collaborative Artists
**Deutsche Bank Americas Fellow
***Joy of Giving Something Fellow
****Geri Ashur Screenwriting Fellow
*****Shelly Pinz Fellow
******Leonard and Rita Bernstein Writing Fellow