The Dallas Museum of Art is pleased to announce its 2025 Awards to Artists recipients. Selected from a pool of 92 applicants based in the southwestern United States, 19 artists, ages 16 to 54, received awards from the Clare Hart DeGolyer Memorial Fund, the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund and the Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant. All but one of the 2025 recipients are from Texas, including 15 based in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. Through these three funds, the DMA awarded nearly $48,000 to both emerging and established artists, the largest amount of funding awarded in a single year. With this year’s cohort, Awards to Artists has officially surpassed $1 million in awards given since its establishment in 1980. María Elena Ortiz, curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, served as guest juror.
“This year’s record number of recipients is a testament to the vitality and ambition of artists working in the Southwest today,” said Dr. Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. “From experimental media to deeply rooted cultural research, these artists exemplify the rigor and innovation that continue to shape the future of contemporary art in our region.”
The DeGolyer and Kimbrough funds will provide support for the development of new, ambitious bodies of work through supplies, reference materials and dedicated studio spaces. Projects and activities include the exploration of photosensitive materials such as anthotypes and cyanotypes in animation; the creation of a porcelain “Prayer Space” installation inspired by refugee traditions; and portfolio development in pursuit of higher education. The Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant will support travel to India and West Africa; to Greenland to study Inuit art and cultural practices; through Guatemala to trace the transformation of refurbished US school buses into vibrantly painted affordable public transportation; and to Japan to study “Butoh,” a Japanese form of dance influenced by German Expressionism.
2025 Clare Hart DeGolyer Memorial Fund Award recipients:
Bonnie Abbott
Evelyn Holt
Lauren Fleniken
London Walker
Zeke Wooten
2025 Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund Award recipients:
Anna Redman
Carolina Yanez
Francisco Marquez
Grace Wilkinson
Jack Hein
Leili Arai Tavallaei
Ryan Semegran
Vanessa Carrera
Veronica Gaona
2025 Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant recipients:
Beili Liu
Binod Shrestha
Gaurii S. Kumaar
Giovanni Valderas
Troy Montes
“The DMA’s Awards to Artists is a transformative program that supports artists at a pivotal time in their practice. I am honored to be part of this year’s jury, and congratulations to the winners,” said guest juror Maria Elena Ortiz. “In general, there were a significant number of strong applications, and I am excited to see the continued flourishing of our artistic community.” The DMA will host a champagne reception where awardees will showcase their work on Friday, May 16, at 6 p.m. in the Hamon Atrium. This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are available at dma.org.
About the DMA’s Annual Awards to Artists
In 1980 the DeGolyer and Kimbrough families established two funds—the Clare Hart DeGolyer Memorial Fund and the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Fund—for the purpose of recognizing exceptional talent and promise in young artists residing in the southwestern part of the United States. Ten years later, the Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant was established to honor the memory of these two Dallas artists who strongly believed in the enriching experiential and aesthetic influence of travel on an artist’s work. Together, these three funds created what is now known as
Awards to Artists.
Since its establishment, Awards to Artists has given out over $1 million across 443 awarded grants: 145 DeGolyer grants, 223 Kimbrough grants, and 75 Dozier travel grants. Many of these recipients have gone on to have successful careers within North Texas and across the country, and several of them are now represented in the Dallas Museum of Art’s collection. Awards to Artists reaffirms the Museum’s longstanding commitment to recognizing and supporting local artists and providing resources for these artists to expand their artistic practice.
About the Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an inclusive, welcoming space for everyone to see its global collection of more than 25,000 works spanning 5,000 years of history and a range of world cultures. The DMA is one of the largest art museums in the United States and is located in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country, with free general admission for all visitors. As an Open Access institution, the DMA offers digital images of all public-domain artworks in its collection for use by the public. The DMA provides educational programming for all ages, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary events and dramatic performances. The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., and is always open at dma.org.
The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by generous DMA Members and donors, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.