Image: Mariette Pathy Allen, “Guest at Drag Ball in Harlem, New York,” 1984, Archival pigment print.

Queer|Art, a New York nonprofit dedicated to promoting the work of LGBTQ+ artists, has launched a new $10,000 grant for Black trans women artists. The award, called the Illuminations Grant, was developed in collaboration with photographer Mariette Pathy Allen, writer and consultant Aaryn Lang, and multidisciplinary artist Serena Jara. (Allen single-handedly endowed the award.)

Applications for the award will be accepted through 08.30.2020. The award will be judged by Thelma Golden, Director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, and artists Juliana Huxtable, Texas Isaiah, and Kiyan William. The grant recipient will be announced in 11.2020.

Mariette Pathy Allen spoke to artnet News commenting: “This grant is the first to be offered specifically for Black transgender women and femmes in support of their path within visual arts. . . I believe that it will have an important impact on the artists themselves and their influence on the art world.”

Allen has documented the transgender community for more than four decades.