Ph.D. Candidate Emily Alesandrini Awarded Andy Warhol Foundation Grant

Emily Alesandrini, a Ph.D. candidate in history of art, was among those awarded a 2025 Arts Writers Grant in the short-form writing category by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. For the 2025 recipients, $1,040,000 will be divided among 31 writers. The award will support Alesandrini's living expenses for the next year as she writes on contemporary New Orleans-based visual artists.  

"This past August was the twentieth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, so it's a particularly poignant time to spotlight makers grappling with themes of climate change, government negligence, and storm recovery," she says. 

This work overlaps with her dissertation research which focuses on opacity and adornment, especially in regard to Mardi Gras costuming and textile art, she adds.  

Since 2006, the Andy Warhol Foundation has supported more than 450 arts writers across four categories — articles, books, short-form writing, and translation — administering more than $13.5 million. Through supporting arts writers, the grant program seeks to ensure that critical writing continues to be an important method of engaging with the visual arts.  

From the announcement: 

"By engaging deeply with works of art, exploring cultural and political contexts, and drawing connections across diverse periods and practices, arts writers broadcast artists' voices far beyond gallery walls, reflecting—and shaping—critical issues in the social, political, and cultural landscape," says Joel Wachs, President of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. "The Arts Writers Grant honors excellence in the field, and celebrates the generative role arts writing plays in creative and intellectual spheres.”"

Read the full announcement and list of 2025 grantees here.