The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has announced the 2025 Guggenheim Fellows, including visual artists Theaster Gates and Farah Al Qasimi. The organization selected 198 individuals, across 53 scholarly and creative disciplines, from nearly 3,5000 applications. This year marks the foundation’s 100th class of fellows. Each fellow will receive a stipend to pursue independent research and work under “the freest possible conditions,” according to the foundation.
“At a time when intellectual life is under attack, the Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists,” said Edward Hirsch, award-winning poet and president of the Guggenheim Foundation. “We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.”
Of the 198 fellows, 32 are within the Fine Arts category, up from 28 last year. Among the visual artists is Gates, whose multidisciplinary practice—which spans sculpture, installation, and performance—explores the intersections of architecture and Black identity. Other artists include Raúl Guerrero, known for his socially conscious figurative paintings, and B. Ingrid Olson, whose photography-based practice examines the body and self-perception.
Al Qasimi is among 17 fellows awarded for their work in photography. Based in New York, the photographer is celebrated for her work investigating postcolonial life in the United Arab Emirates. New York–based Martine Gutierrez, known for her work exploring gender identity and her Mayan heritage, was also named.
For the fifth consecutive year, actor Robert De Niro sponsored a Guggenheim Fellowship. This year it was awarded it to Iranian American painter Maryam Safajoo, whose work explores the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution through narratives from her community. The fellowship is in honor of De Niro’s father, Robert De Niro Sr., an artist who received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1968.
In 2024, artists Lorraine O’Grady (who passed away last December), Dyani White Hawk, and Lotus L. Kang were among the 188 Guggenheim fellows.
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