Art News: Alison Saar wins Driskell award; pop-up gallery closes; plus opportunities for artists

Congratulations are in order! The High Museum of Art has announced Alison Saar as winner of the 2025 David C. Driskell Prize. Saar is an acclaimed multidisciplinary Los Angeles-based artist whose artwork tells stories of the African American experience through sculpture, installation and mixed-media works. 

Fertile Ground, one of the artist’s first ever solo exhibitions, debuted at the High Museum of Art in 1993, making this award represent a full-circle moment for the artist. In the more than 30 years since, Saar has exhibited in hundreds of shows across the globe and earned significant achievements and recognition for her artworks that feature themes of mythology, family and identity. Active both in gallery work as well as public art, Saar explores issues related to gender and race through references to American history and her own personal experiences.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the David C. Driskell Prize, which recognizes artists and scholars for their contributions to the field of African American art through an annual $50,000 award.  

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Gone but not forgotten. Gallery Anderson Smith has closed the doors at its Peachtree Corners pop-up gallery space. The year-long, temporary satellite location for the gallery was located in The Forum in Peachtree Corners. Today, Smith says he is excited to refocus on upcoming programming for the gallery’s original Buckhead Village location. 

Smith founded Gallery Anderson Smith in September of 2022 to exhibit local emerging and established artists and has since expanded to featuring international artists as well. “I am concentrating more on growing the Buckhead location, just having more time and less pressure,” said Smith. “I’ve been a part of the community for so long, so I’m just excited about a lot of the things we’ve got coming up.” The gallery’s next exhibit, What’s Really Real: A Portraiture Exhibition will debut on Saturday, May 24, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and in July the gallery will present a solo exhibition of works by Kyoko Takeuchi. 

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Get involved. The city of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs has announced a call for panelists for the 2025-2026 grant cycle. Panelists receive a $120 one-time honorarium and are tasked with reviewing proposals to ensure an equitable and effective disbursement of grant funding from the city’s Municipal Support for the Arts program. Grantees can include arts organizations, community cultural development projects, artist projects, emerging artists and neighborhood arts. Apply by June 13, 2025.

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Input needed. The Atlanta Contemporary recently announced that it is developing a new strategic plan with the help of Purpose Possible, and it is seeking feedback from the greater Atlanta arts community during the process. Those interested in weighing in can fill out an anonymous online form by Monday, June 2, at 5 p.m. The form asks readers to consider the institution’s successes and areas for improvement and encourages new ideas for what the institution can offer to the overall arts ecosystem of Atlanta.  

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Opportunities for artists

The Bakery Atlanta is seeking submissions for an upcoming exhibition, For Them, For Us, a group show celebrating artists from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The works selected for this exhibition will highlight the beauty, resilience, joy and resistance embodied by members of the community throughout history to today, as well as those who envision a brighter future ahead. Apply by May 25, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. 

The Atlanta Contemporary has announced a call for studio artists. Offering 13 subsidized studio spaces to local working artists, the Atlanta Contemporary Studio Artist Program has been supporting creatives for decades. Studios range in size from 224 to 755 square feet and are suitable for artists working in a varied range of disciplines, including sculpture, film, photography, performance, ceramics, painting and installation. Apply by May 31, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.

MOCA GA invites artists to submit for its fellowship program, The Working Artist Project. Now in its 18th year, this year-long program champions three established working artists in metro Atlanta regions through a program that provides a $15,000 stipend, solo exhibition, studio apprentice and a full-color catalog. Apply by June 1, 2025. 

The Larch Creative Fund Grants, presented by the Spruill Center for the Arts, seeks proposals for innovative projects that encourage community engagement with the arts. Interested artists and arts organizations alike are asked to submit a project summary, project proposal, proof of concept, bio, timeline with milestones, budget and optional video to support their application. A jury will consider all proposals and distribute the $50,000 fund among selected applicants. Apply by June 1, 2025.