To apply
A USD$30 application fee is required. Fees are applied to administration and program development. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if you are unable to pay the fee.
Fees can be mailed to 941 S. Vermont Ave Ste 101 #9, Los Angeles, CA 90006.
Applicants must submit the following via our online application:
- Completed application form providing contact details, description of background and qualifications, and other related information
- CV and brief biography
- Artist Statement
- Work samples (up to 10 images)
Eligibility
- Visual artists of all media are eligible.
- Applicant must be either a US citizen of Korean ancestry, Korean with permanent residency status in the US, or otherwise approved by the Board.
- Applicants must show a continued commitment to the visual arts and should have received some professional recognition.
- An application fee of USD$30.00 must be made payable to KAFA. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if you are unable to pay the fee.
- You cannot be enrolled as a full-time student at the time of application submission.
Selection Criteria
- Artistic merit
- Consideration of award’s impact on the artist’s career
- Record of artistic activity, accomplishments, and potential
- A display of continued commitment to the visual arts
Awardee Requirements
- Artists must agree to participate in the KAFA Awardee Exhibition (to open sometime in 2025 at the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles).
- All costs of the exhibition, travel, and lodging are the artist’s responsibility.
- Artist is responsible for any and all shipping and insurance expenses incurred.
- All the exhibition logistics and planning will be handled by the artist and the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles curator.
- KAFA will pay a maximum of USD$700.00 for a printed invitation announcing the artist’s exhibition.
- Artist must prepare the checklist and will receive 100% of sales. As a courtesy, artists must agree to extend a 20% discount on the sale of artworks to KAFA board members.
Decision and Requirements
The award decision is made by a panel of three jurors which is assembled biennially. Each awarded artist is required to participate in an exhibition of their work organized by KAFA in Los Angeles. The USD$20,000 award is distributed in two installments of USD$10,000. The first sum will be awarded upon selection, and the remaining will be awarded at the KAFA Awardee Exhibition opening the following year at the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles.
All proceeds from sales at the exhibition are given to the artist. The award is made to support the development of an artist’s work. Grantees may use their award funds in any way which supports their artistic practice.
2024 Jurors
Virginia Moon, Associate Curator of Korean Art, LACMA
Jamillah James, Senior Curator, MCA Chicago
Pablo José Ramírez, Curator, Hammer Museum
Previous Jurors
Helen Molesworth, Writer and Curator
Rebecca Lowery, Associate Curator, MOCA, Los Angeles
Lanka Tattersall, MoMA
Christine Y. Kim, Tate Modern
Anne Ellegood, ICA LA
John Tain, Asia Art Archive
Doryun Chong, MoMA
Dan Cameron, OCMA
Alma Ruiz, MOCA
Bennett Simpson, MOCA, Los Angeles
Leah Ollman, Writer
Carol Eliel, LACMA
Jay Bellolli, Armory Center for the arts
David Pagel, Claremont Graduate School of Art
Eungie Joo, REDCAT
Peter Frank, Riverside Museum
Julie Lazar, Int’l Contemporary Arts Network
Hunter Drohojowska-Philip, Author and Independent Art Critic
Roland Reiss, Claremont Graduate School of Art
Stephen Nowlin, Williamson Gallery, Pasadena Art Center
Ann Goldstein, MOCA
Suzanne Muchnic, LA Times
Josine Ianco-Starrels, LA Municipal Art Gallery
Howard N. Fox, LACMA
Kerry Brougher, Smithsonian
Henry T. Hopkins, SFMOMA