If you are having trouble viewing this email, click here.

CELEBRATING THE 2026 BRIO AWARDEES

Featured Image: Group shot of the 2026 BRIO grantees and BCA staff at the 2026 BRIO Award Ceremony. Image credit: Adi Talwar

BCA is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) Awards. This year, BCA awarded 41 awards totaling $205,000 to Bronx-based artists from a wide range of creative disciplines who demonstrate proficiency, knowledge, and intense practice in their chosen artform.

Featured Image: (From left to right) 2026 BRIO Awardees Fatou Thiam, Katherine Miranda, and Shamel Ridley. Image credit: Adi Talwar

Each year, BRIO provides direct support to individual Bronx artists who create works in the literary, media, visual, and performing arts with awards of $5,000. Artists who have received a BRIO award represent the vast diversity of Bronx residents, inclusive of all ethnicities, ages, and genders.

This year’s grantees were recognized during a special celebration on June 3, 2026, at BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance bringing together artists, supporters, and cultural leaders including special guests New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) Assistant Commissioner Audrey St. Clair, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, and NYC Council Members Amanda Farías and Justin Sánchez whose support helps make this work possible.

Featured Image: (From left to right) BAAD! Artistic Director Arthur Avilés, BCA Board Chair Charles Rice-González, NYC Council Member Amanda Farías, BCA Executive Director Jesús López-Jensen, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, NYC Council Member Justin Sánchez, DCLA Assistant Commissioner Audrey St. Clair, and 2026 BRIO Awardee Salieu Suso. Image credit: Adi Talwar

Following the grantee announcement, guests enjoyed a special performance by Bronx artist DJ PhearNone before concluding the evening with networking and refreshments.

Featured Image: DJ PhearNone performing at the 2026 BRIO Ceremony. Image credit: Adi Talwar 

The recipients of the 2026 Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) Awards are:

Literary Arts: Judith Baumel (Poetry); Jhoselin Blanco (Nonfiction); Sarah Courteau (Nonfiction) Sidik Fofana (Fiction); David Kennedy (Fiction); Stephen Mills (Nonfiction); Urayoán Noel (Nonfiction); Christina Olivares (Poetry); Kay Poema (Poetry); Juan Ramirez Jr. (Screenwriting); Joshunda Sanders (Fiction) 

Media Arts: Samantha Alvarez (Documentary film/video); Robin De’Voir (Documentary film/video); Hannah Leshaw (Experimental film/video); Fatou Thiam (Experimental film/video) 

Performing Arts: Rashan Brown (Spoken Word); Malang Jobarteh (Music Performance - Instrumental); Felipe Fournier (Music Performance - Instrumental); Colin Harte (Music Performance - Instrumental); Dilson Hernandez (Performance Art); Tamika Lawrence (Music Performance - Vocal); Manuela Sánchez Goubert (Music Composition); Alethea Pace (Choreography); Salieu Suso (Music Performance - Instrumental); Watoku Ueno (Performance Art) 

Visual Arts: Odalys Burgoa (Painting); Daniel Castro (Mixed Media - 3D); Maya Ciarrocchi (Crafts); Christian Hincapie (Printmaking); Sue Julien (Crafts); Jessica Lagunas (Crafts); Ariana Martinez (Crafts); Katherine Miranda (Installation Art); Sarah Nicholls (Artist Book); Amy Pryor (Crafts); J.C. Rice (Photography); Shamel Ridley (Photography); Moses Ros (Installation Art); SuRan Song (Architecture); Pedro Troncoso (Mixed Media - 3D); Aaron Wexler (Mixed Media - 2D) 

The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Arts Midwest and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Coalition of Theaters of Color; and NYS Assemblymember Michael Benedetto. Also supported in part by the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, the Altman Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Tiger Baron Foundation, Amazon, BronxCare Health System, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, TD Bank, and Webster Bank.

BCA is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant.