$50,000 Anonymous Was a Woman Grants Go to Candida Alvarez, Park McArthur, and More

Anonymous Was a Woman, a grant-making organization that provides funding to woman-identifying artists, has revealed 15 artists who will receive $50,000 grants this year. Those artists include Candida Alvarez, a painter who was recently the subject of an El Museo del Barrio retrospective in New York; Park McArthur, an artist who earlier this year staged an ambitious survey that took place concurrently at museums in Vienna and Mönchengladbach, Germany; and Lola Flash, a photographer whose work is now on view at the Museum of Modern Art.

Also in this year s class are photographer Kunié Sugiura, who had a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art show in the spring, and sculptor Sonya Kelliher-Combs, whose work is currently included in An Indigenous Present, a current survey of Indigenous contemporary art at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston. Each year reminds me why this work matters, Anonymous Was a Woman founder Susan Unterberg told ARTnews in an email. In a period when both artistic freedom and women’s rights are increasingly vulnerable, I am more inspired than ever by this year s recipients. Their vision, rigor, and originality remind us what is at stake and fuel our mission to stand behind artists pursuing their work with conviction and imagination.

Unterberg founded the Anonymous Was a Woman in 1996, naming the organization so because she initially concealed the fact that she was its benefactor. She only revealed herself as its creator in 2018. By that time, the organization had provided funding to countless artists, from Joan Jonas to Simone Leigh, across the years. The organization is known primarily for its $50,000 grants, which go to artists over the age of 40.

But in recent years, Anonymous Was a Woman has also expanded its initiatives to include funding for environmentally minded projects. The full list of the 2025 Anonymous Was a Woman Award recipients follows below. Candida AlvarezAmbreen ButtJoAnne CarsonCecelia ConditLola FlashSonya Kelliher-CombsMichelle MarcusePark McArthurNicole MillerNarcissisterDhara RiveraLinda StarkKunié SugiuraHong-An TruongPaula Wilson