The Snapdragon Fund is thrilled to announce the recipients of its 2025 grant cycle, awarding seven Project Grants and five Research & Development Grants to visionary artists whose practices challenge, imagine, and build. This year’s applications made clear: North Carolina’s artistic community is vibrant, radical, and deeply rooted in community care and critique.

The following artists’ projects stood out for their bold vision, clarity of purpose, feasibility, and commitment to collective organizing:

Scatterbrain
Aida Guo + Sofia Azam
Isabel Lu + Michelle Qiou
Martin Wannam + Anthony Maravilla
Sadie Rose
Chania Wilson
Becky Joye

The following artists are engaging in deep research and experimentation that will contribute meaningfully to the cultural and artistic landscape of the South. This is a two year program. Each will receive $2,000 the first year for research, then $5,000 to execute their program:

Assata Goff
Sadie Rose
huiyin zhou + Laura Dudu
Ky Santilli
Alyssa Cuffie

The Snapdragon Fund would like to sincerely thank every artist who applied. The depth, urgency, and brilliance found across the submissions were inspiring.

The Snapdragon Fund is administered by VAE, a community cultural arts organization that has spent the past four decades producing, funding, and exhibiting socially-engaged art through community collaboration.