Artadia, a nonprofit grantmaking organization and nationwide community of visual artists,
curators, and patrons, have announced the recipients of the 2022 Atlanta Artadia Awards –
Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Ato Ribeiro, and José Ibarra Rizo. The annual Artadia Awards application is open to visual artists working in any visual media, at any stage in their career, who have been living and working within Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton counties for a minimum of two years.
The awardees are chosen after a two-tiered jurying process culminating in virtual studio visits with jurors Veronica Kessenich, Executive Director, Atlanta Contemporary, and Rehema C. Barber, Chief Curator, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Juror Veronica Kessenich reflected on the awards process: “Having the opportunity to be a juror for the 2022 Atlanta Artadia Awards uniquely champions what I know to be true: Atlanta forges exceptional talent.” On the effect of the award, she stated, “It is our collective hope that this award comes at a pivotal moment and affords the opportunity to champion ancestors, give voice to communities, and advance artistic craftsmanship.”
On the Awardees, Kessenich remarked, “Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Ato Ribeiro, and Jose Ibarra Rizo’s works were so deeply personal yet crafted in such a manner that we can all identify and see our own humanity represented within their works.”
Fellow juror Rehema C. Barber commented on Mitchell’s multimedia practice “Mitchell’s performances, installations, and paper-based works use craft as tools of power, imbued with the essence of its maker’s memories and familial history, creating a searing reminder about known and unknown familial origins—a prevailing dilemma for many of the people represented in the African Diaspora.”
On Ribeiro’s work, Barber remarked, “Ribeiro’s desire to find a sense of self and home combines various techniques to create alluring sculptures that declare an Afrocentric personhood that crosses tradition and geography.” “Rizo’s striking photographs unveil what has been previously hidden in plain sight–working people and the families they are raising in southern Georgia,” Barber shared. “With his keen eye, Rizo spotlights a community of people, who have long been marginalized, revealing that just like everyone else, they too are in search of the quintessential American dream.”
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