Shalom Parker was awarded $3,500 toward the establishment of a ceramics studio in New Orleans that brings together ceramic arts, art therapy, and community healing. By covering transportation and set-up costs, the grant will make it possible for her to begin offering ceramics classes and therapeutic art programs focused on serving the Black community and individuals impacted by incarceration and state violence.

Olúbùnmi Atéré was awarded $1,000 toward studio infrastructure needed to expand Listening to Clay, a sculptural research series that brings people together to explore clay through African epistemologies, contemporary art, and collective making. The grant will support essential studio improvements while making it possible to host future sessions and share their outcomes through a printed risograph publication.

Kyra Simone was awarded $1,000 in recognition of both the promise of her artistic practice and the remarkable resilience she demonstrated while completing her studies at Howard University through an extraordinarily difficult season of personal loss. This award will help her continue her creative journey by supporting the studio space and equipment needed to develop her innovative stop-motion films, which combine ceramics, animation, and storytelling.

A student of Fine and Industrial Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Igbokwe Shallon Agozirim was awarded $500 in recognition of the exceptional promise and artistic merit of his emerging ceramics practice. This award will support his continued growth as he develops a distinctive artistic voice and builds a sustainable career in both sculptural and functional ceramics.