FLEISHHACKER FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES NEW COHORT OF EUREKA FELLOWS, AWARDING NEARLY $500K TO BAY AREA VISUAL ARTISTS 

12 Bay Area Artists will receive unrestricted grants of $40,000 to Support Their Work and Livelihood in Celebration of Fellowship’s 40th Anniversary 

San Francisco, CA (September 11, 2025) — The Fleishhacker Foundation is pleased to announce the new cohort of Eureka Fellows, a distinguished group of Bay Area visual artists who will each receive an unrestricted grant of $40,000 to support their creative practice. Twelve contemporary artists in various stages of their careers have been selected for the prestigious award, which will be given to groups of four artists per year over the next three years. The Eureka Fellowship is among the largest fellowship awards for visual artists in Northern California. 

Over the past 40 years, the Eureka Fellows program has provided nearly $3.5 million in unrestricted support to 155 Bay Area visual artists to help them continue creating inspiring work that enriches our community. In celebration of the Eureka Fellowship’s 40th anniversary, the award amount has been increased from $35,000 to $40,000 per artist, bringing the program’s total investment to nearly $4 million and reaffirming the Foundation’s enduring commitment to sustaining a vibrant artistic community in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

The new Eureka Fellows are: Cat Alden, Jillian Crochet, Marlon Mullen, and Rahsaan Thomas (2026); Jonathan Calm, James Chan, Maya Fuji, and Jennifer Huang (2027); Christy Chan, Nimah Gobir, Sahar Khoury, and Masako Miki (2028). 

In January 2025, the Foundation invited more than 100 Bay Area visual arts organizations to nominate artists for the fellowship. Nearly 160 artists were nominated, and more than 130 artists applied. After a rigorous review process, the awardees were selected by an esteemed panel of jurors from outside the Bay Area: Dr. Rhea L. Combs, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Rosario Güiraldes, Curator of Visual Arts, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Paul C. Ha, Director, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA. The selected artists work in an array of media and are at different stages of their careers, offering a rich portrait of contemporary visual art in the Bay Area. 

“This talented array of artists take pride in who they are,” said juror Rhea Combs. “Their work focuses on telling real, human stories that showcase what makes the Bay Area special. It’s not just technology that makes the region distinctive. These creatives tap into the rich, vibrant history of what truly distinguishes the Bay Area: its people. Trends in technology come and go, but the region’s people and their cultures endure.” 

The Eureka Fellowship Program was established in 1986 to provide direct financial support to visual artists living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. “We value the arts as a means to bring people together, promote empathy and understanding, and strengthen community,” said John Ehrlich, President of the Fleishhacker Foundation. “Since the Eureka Fellows program began, we’ve been at the forefront of providing direct, unrestricted support to Bay Area visual artists to realize their creative vision, and we take great pride in the extraordinary achievements of Eureka Fellows over the past four decades. The artists we have supported in the past have enriched our community in profound ways, and we know this new cohort will carry forward their legacy of innovation, impact, and artistic excellence.” 

The program was created to address a funding gap for visual artists, many of whom work independently of nonprofit structures and face the challenge of sustaining their practice amid the Bay Area’s high cost of living. Unlike project-based funding, Eureka Fellowship awards are unrestricted, giving artists the freedom to pursue their creative interests and dedicate more uninterrupted time to their work. 

“The Eureka Fellowship marked a pivotal moment in my career,” said artist Mildred Howard (Eureka Fellow 1996). “I received the grant at a critical juncture, when I was working multiple jobs to support my creative practice. The fellowship allowed me to focus solely on my art, which ultimately led to me working full-time as an artist and creating a major work that has since traveled throughout the US and internationally. This type of unrestricted support is so valuable to artists and the artistic community at large.” 

The Eureka Fellowship is one of four grantmaking programs offered by the Fleishhacker Foundation in support of Bay Area arts and culture. Collectively, these programs provide vital support for artists, arts organizations, and arts service groups, helping ensure the region remains a vibrant and innovative cultural hub. Previous Eureka Fellows include notable Bay Area artists such as Tauba Auerbach, Sadie Barnette, Enrique Chagoya, Kota Ezawa, Mildred Howard, David Ireland, Hung Liu, Barry McGee, Richard Misrach, and Arleene Correra Valencia, among others. 

About the Fleishhacker Foundation 

The Fleishhacker Foundation is a family foundation located in San Francisco, California. It was established in 1947 to improve the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation makes grants to local, community-based organizations and artists in two main areas: Arts & Culture and Social Justice. Arts grants are made to local small to mid-sized visual and performing arts organizations, arts services organizations, and films by Bay Area filmmakers. The Foundation’s Eureka Fellowship Program also provides unrestricted grants of $40,000 to Bay Area visual artists. 

The Fleishhacker Foundation has a proud 78-year history of funding a broad array of Bay Area arts and culture organizations. It focuses its arts grants on advancing the work of local artists and arts groups and furthering the artistic innovations and original voices that make the Bay Area such a vibrant, culturally diverse community.