On Thursday, San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts announced the inaugural YBCA 10, a new artist cohort program that will invest half a million dollars into the work of 10 artists. Mostly from the Bay Area, the 10 artists will each be granted $50,000 and join YBCA for a one-year period to create new work of their choice focused on their communities’ health and well-being.
The recipients are Binta Ayofemi, Alex Bledsoe, Leticia Hernandez, My-Linh Le, Nikiko Masumoto, Ayodele Nzinga, Hasain Rasheed, Darryl Ratcliff, Dorothy Santos, and Deanna Van Buren.
As the artists develop prototypes of their work, the public will be able to view and give feedback online and on-site through YBCA’s Public Squares program, beginning in June 2021. This model is designed to facilitate natural interaction around the work of the cohort, with the intention of prioritizing public participation.
The 10 artists, each of which are also part of the annual YBCA 100 list, will be at the center of YBCA’s programming for the next year. With disciplines and mediums ranging from film, dance, photography, architecture, performance, to theatre and more, the intergenerational and interdisciplinary BIPOC cohort was chosen, YBCA CEO Deborah Cullinan says, “not only for their creative talent, but also for their ability and willingness to collaborate amongst themselves and with their communities.”
Learn more about the YBCA 10 artists on YBCA’s site.
