The Trellis Art Fund has announced the 12 recipients of its 2026 Milestone Grant, each receiving an unrestricted $100,000 award paid in two installments over two years. The cohort includes notable artists such as Kelly Akashi, Ei Arakawa-Nash (who is representing Japan at the Venice Biennale), Alex Da Corte, and Candice Lin. Established in 2024, the grant is open to artists living in or eligible to work in the United States, with several grants reserved for artists who are caregivers. Recipients also receive career-development workshops and an invitation to a retreat hosted by Trellis.
The award matters because it provides substantial, unrestricted funding—rare in the arts—alongside targeted support for caregivers, addressing systemic barriers in the field. The selection process, which drew 75 applicants from across the US and Puerto Rico, emphasized diversity: roughly 78 percent of applicants identified as artists of color and more than 40 percent as LGBTQIA+. By prioritizing artists aged 42 to 82 with demonstrated commitment and high-quality work, the grant underscores a shift toward more equitable and flexible support for established and mid-career artists.