The Graham Foundation has announced the 2020 Grants to Individual with a set of 52 new grants totaling $320,800 in funding in support of critical projects that tackle contemporary issues, broaden historical perspectives, and explore the future of architecture and the designed environment through research, exhibitions, publications, films, digital initiatives, and other inventive formats. 

Selected from an open call for ideas that resulted in over 600 submissions last fall, the 2020 grantee cohort includes individuals working worldwide in cities such Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Bogotá, Columbia; Cape Town, South Africa; Lahore, Pakistan; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and US cities such as Atlanta, Georgia; Newport News, Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois, where the Graham Foundation is based.

As the Graham approaches 65 years of grantmaking and public programming in 2021, the Foundation seeks to continue to support diverse and challenging ideas about architecture by individuals working around the world. 

The international open call for applications is now live on the Graham Foundation’s website. Individuals must submit an inquiry form by September 15, 2020 to be considered for a 2021 grant.

To learn more about the 2020 grants to individuals, click on any grantee name below to visit their online project page or go to the website. 

Image: Photograph of Ethel Madison Bailey Furman (1893–1976) with fellow architects at the Hampton Institute’s “Negro Contractors’ Conference,” Richmond, Virginia, 1928. Courtesy the Ethel Bailey Furman, Papers and architectural drawings, 1928–2003, Accession 41145. Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. From the 2020 Individual grant to Jay Cephas for Black Architects Archive

Exhibitions

• Cathy Hsiao, Chicago, IL,
• Prem Krishnamurthy, New York, NY.
• Figure: James Leng and Jennifer Ly, San Francisco, CA
• Zoe Leonar, New York, NY
• Future Firm: Ann Lui and Craig Reschke, Chicago, IL
• Alex Martínez Suárez, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Film, Video, and New Media Projects 

• Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Rossella Biscotti, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
• Jay Cephas, Dorchester, MA
• Killian Doherty and Edward Lawrenson, Edinburgh and London, United Kingdom
• Maxwell Mutanda, Cape Town, South Africa
• Jess Myers, New York, NY
• Fred Schmidt-Arenales, Philadelphia, PA
• Clarissa Tossin, Los Angeles, CA

Publications 

• Stan Allen, Elizaville, NY
• Julie Ault, New York, NY
• Shiben Banerji, Chicago, IL
• Besler & Sons: Erin Besler and Ian Besler, Hopewell, NJ
• Greg Castillo and Lee Stickells, Berkeley, CA and Sydney, Australia
• Lawrence Chua, Syracuse, NY
• Joseph L. Clarke, Toronto, Canada
• Stephanie Cristello, Chicago, IL
• Neven Fuchs, Stefano Graziani, and Aleksandra Ognjanov, Oslo, Norway and Trieste, Italy
• Aglaya K. Glebova, Berkeley, CA
• Nicolas Grospierre, Warsaw, Poland
• Charles Heller and Lorenzo Pezzani, London, United Kingdom and Neuchâtel, Switzerland
• Nana Last, Charlottesville, VA
• Roberta Marcaccio, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
• Sarah M. Miller, Oakland, CA
• Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, New York, NY
• John Palmesino and Ann-Sofi Rönnskog, London, United Kingdom
• Spyros Papapetros and Gerd Zillner, New York, NY and Vienna, Austria
• Christina Schwenkel, Riverside, CA
• Delia Duong Ba Wendel, Cambridge, MA

Research Projects 

• Pak Khawateen Painting Club: Malika Abbas, Saulat Ajmal, Amna Hashmi, Saba Khan, Natasha Malik, Zohreen Murtaza, and Emaan Shaikh, Lahore, Pakistan
• Anthony Acciavatti, New York, NY
• Christina E. Crawford, Atlanta, GA
• Ghazal Jafari, Charlottesville, VA
• Andrés Jaque and Bart-Jan Polman, New York, NY
• Gelare Khoshgozaran, Los Angeles, CA
• Jorge L. Lizardi Pollock, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Kera Lovell, Incheon, South Korea
• Jessica Lynne, Newport News, VA
• Geoff Manaugh, Los Angeles, CA
• Kareem Rabie, Washington, DC
• Juana Salcedo, Bogotá, Colombia
• Beatriz A. Santos, Orlando, FL
• Ishita Shah, Bengaluru, India
• Kirsten Swenson, Lowell, MA
• Jina Valentine, Chicago, IL
• Oliver Wainwright, London, United Kingdom
• Ed Wall, London, United Kingdom

Upcoming Grant Application Deadlines:

Grants to Individuals Inquiry Form Due September 15, 2020

Top image: "Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus," 2019. 3-D generated terrain of Lalibela region in Ethiopia. Courtesy the artist. From the 2020 individual grant to Miriam Hillawi Abraham for "Abyssinian Cyber Vernaculus."

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