The Todd Samara Art Fund Award
Now in its eighth year, the Todd Samara Art Fund Award accepts proposals from artists in all genres of art practice, including but not limited to visual arts, music, performance, new media and literary arts. This year’s $1,500 award was designed for proposals from emerging and established artists, art educators, and/or curators for a City of Kingston-based project. Applicants must reside or work in the city of Kingston.
How To Apply
Applicants must send a short description of their project or describe a need related to their art practice they deem worthy of funding, along with a one-page CV and up to eight images or links to videos. In judging creative work of merit, factors that will be considered by the committee include originality of conception, quality of execution and/or craft, professionalism of presentation, and visibility and/or engagement with the community, particularly as it pertains to under-served communities and the education of under-resourced youth.
About the Todd Samara Art Fund Award
The Todd Samara Art Fund Award was created by the family and friends of Todd Samara (1943-2020) in 2018 to preserve his legacy as an artist. For over 30 years, Todd lived and painted in Kingston’s Rondout neighborhood, translating its hilly streets, tight rows of 19th-century gable-roofed houses, bridges and panoramic river views into poetic visions characterized by simplified, textured forms and rich, glowing color. In 2017 Todd was diagnosed with dementia and placed in long-term care. In deciding how to deal with the hundreds of paintings and drawings Todd left behind, the Samara family arranged for an auction to be held to raise funds that would then be used to benefit other artists in Kingston. The family felt this would be a great way to keep Todd’s presence alive in the community, which played such an important part in his work. The auction was held in November 2018 and raised over $30,000, which has been invested with the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley. The fund is administered by the Midtown Kingston Arts District (MKAD), and a committee was formed to oversee an annual arts award generated from the fund’s interest. Previous award winners are The Matter Digest (2019), visual artist Patti Gibbons (2020), musician Adriana Tampasis (2021), photographer Benjamin Eichert (2022), filmmaker Jess Costa (2023), artists Erin Dougherty and Kaya Keller (2024) and multimedia artist Sui Jenneris (2025). For more information visit toddsamara.com
