Three artists receive unrestricted $75,000 grants supporting socially engaged, culturally innovative practices across the Greater Boston area

Boston, MA – March 24, 2026 – Wagner Foundation, a Cambridge, MA-based foundation committed to investing in health equity, economic wellbeing, and the transformative power of art and culture, is pleased to announce the second cohort of the Wagner Arts Fellowship—an annual initiative designed to further advance the burgeoning arts community in the Greater Boston region. This year’s class is made up of three artists, Tomashi Jackson, Lucy Kim, and Yu-Wen Wu, who are each awarded $75,000 in unrestricted grants along with tailored professional services to support and deepen the impact of their individual practices.

Launched in 2025, the Wagner Arts Fellowship supports mid-career to established visual artists in the Greater Boston area who are deeply embedded in their communities and at a pivotal point in their artistic development. Committed to building healthier communities by advancing economic prosperity, health equity, and the arts and culture landscape, Wagner Foundation established this initiative in celebration of the transformative potential of Boston artists to inspire social change both locally and beyond.

Administered by United States Artists, the Fellowship not only offers unrestricted financial support but also specialized resources and career development opportunities designed to help artists expand the impact of their work. These resources include financial planning, career consulting, legal services, and more to directly address each Fellow’s diverse set of needs.

We are proud to continue investing in Boston’s ever-evolving creative community and to highlight the artists whose creative practices meaningfully shape the cultural legacy of this city. In the second cycle of this initiative, we remain committed to amplifying artists’ contributions and sustaining the ecosystems that allow art to thrive, underscoring the essential role artists play in Boston and within the broader national cultural landscape.

Charlotte Wagner, Founder and President of Wagner Foundation

This year’s Fellowship class exemplifies the collaborative and civic spirit of Boston’s evolving arts scene and underscores the significant role artists play in shaping community and public life. From translating research and material experimentation into collective public discourse to working as educators and advocates for social equity and historical preservation, each fellow and their distinct practice offer insight into how Boston’s artists and their communities support one another and navigate changing social and creative realities.

The 2026 Wagner Arts Fellows are:

Tomashi Jackson — an interdisciplinary visual artist, whose vibrant works combine practices of painting, printmaking, video, photography, fiber, and sculpture with archival research in areas of public infrastructure policy. This work interrogates the intersection of languages between visual art and political histories of segregation, voting rights, education, transportation, labor, and housing in the US and beyond.

Lucy Kim — an interdisciplinary artist who works across painting, sculpture, and biological media. In her hybrid works, she embraces distortion as a tool to deconstruct how we see what we see, and by extension, the complicated relationship between truth and sight.

Yu-Wen Wu — an interdisciplinary artist whose practice investigates the intersections of art, science, the natural world, and social and cultural issues. Her works include large-scale drawings, site-specific video installations, community-engaged practices, and public art. Yu-Wen’s works reflect her journey as an immigrant, exploring the complexities of global migration, displacement, and the nuances of identity.

“Tomashi, Lucy, and Yu-Wen are formidable artists in their own rights, each working to strengthen and expand Greater Boston’s art community,” said Abigail Satinsky, Wagner Foundation Senior Program Officer and Curator of Art & Culture. “Their practices are grounded in ingenuity, collaboration, and social engagement, which truly reflect the spirit of Boston. We are proud to continuously support artists whose work addresses societal issues and deepens our collective understanding of social change, which we believe is instrumental to our society’s collective health and well-being.”

Abstract artwork featuring overlapping rectangles in earthy tones of brown, yellow, black, and magenta, with diagonal white lines and textured patterns layered over a partially visible background image.
Detail of “Get On Up (Women Double Dutching/Two Friends Embracing)” by Tomashi Jackson, 2024. Acrylic, Yule quarry marble dust paste, and paper bags on black canvas with brass hooks and grommets on a handcrafted wood awning structure, 62.5 × 97 × 9 inches. Photo courtesy of Night Gallery.
Two abstract textile artworks hang side by side on a white wall. Each features bold, intersecting lines and blocks of blue, orange, pink, and brown, resembling human silhouettes, mounted on wooden rods.
“Could I Be The One? (Community Members Do the Electric Slide 2023 and LAPD Officer Juan Romero and Others Laughing 2012) I and II” by Tomashi Jackson, 2024. Acrylic, Yule quarry marble dust paste, and Los Angeles palm frond ash paste on linen and canvas with wood, 60.25 × 53 inches. Photo courtesy of Tilton Gallery.
A minimalist art gallery with light wooden floors, white walls, a simple wooden bench, and a large abstract wall sculpture featuring intricate, organic cut-out patterns in various shades of brown and white.
Installation view of “Lucy Kim: Mutant Optics” at Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, 2024. Bacterial melanin on paper, aluminum hardware, dimensions variable. Photo by Jueqian Fang.
A rectangular abstract artwork with a grid of small, raised green and orange dots, blended with cloudy green areas and six bright red dots scattered across the surface. The background is predominantly dark.
“Place. (Green/Red)” by Lucy Kim, 2025. Oil paint, acrylic paint, urethane resin, fiberglass, epoxy, 20 × 30 inches. Photo by Julia Featheringill.
A contemporary art gallery features strings of red objects hanging from the ceiling, a round platform covered in red items, wall-mounted mixed media art, a video projection with sand pendulums, and objects displayed on the floor.
Installation view of ICA Foster Prize exhibition by Yu-Wen Wu, 2023-2024. Mixed media, 5 minute HD video, dimensions variable. Photo by Mel Taing.
Colorful lanterns with intricate designs hang on strings, illuminated against a backdrop of a traditional green-roofed Asian pavilion and trees, creating a festive atmosphere in the evening.
“Lantern Stories” by Yu-Wen Wu, 2022. Mixed media, approx. 48 × 36 × 30 inches; installation dimensions variable. Photo courtesy of the artist.

In addition to unrestricted grants and tailored artist services, Fellows will also present their work in a group exhibition at the Wagner Gallery, the Foundation’s rotating exhibition space for contemporary art, on view in August through December 2026. Future cohorts of the Wagner Arts Fellowship will also be invited to showcase their work at the Gallery, providing further institutional support and expanding public engagement with the Fellow’s work. More information on the exhibition will be announced soon.

Wagner Arts Fellows are selected based on their demonstrated artistic vision, contributions to the advancement of their respective fields, dedication to the Greater Boston area, and engagement with social issues and civic impact. Artists are anonymously nominated by peers with strong connections to Boston’s arts community. Selected nominees are invited to apply, and a panel of leading arts professionals selects finalists, with final approval from Wagner Foundation. This year’s jurors included: David Antonio Cruz, Artist & Professor, Joseph Zeal-Henry, Spatial Designer & Urbanist, Director of Cultural Planning, City of Boston & Assistant Professor of Architecture, Columbia GSAPP, Dina Deitsch, Director and Chief Curator at Tufts University Art Galleries, and Lu Zhang, Executive Director of A Blade of Grass.

To learn more about the Wagner Arts Fellowship and the 2026 cohort, please visit wfound.org/wagner-arts-fellowship/.