Untitled by Taj Forer

If there's an idea that we can get behind, it's awarding deserving artists the money to foster new ideas, projects and develop their practice. So, we are thrilled by this morning's announcement of the twenty-five artists AOL has selected for their 25 for 25 grant. For those of you unfamiliar with program, AOL is awarding twenty-five (!) grants of $25,000 (!!) to artists, writers and creative types – as they put it: “the next generation of culture shapers and influencers.”

It’s a project very close to our own hearts; Ms. Jen Bekman served on the esteemed advisory board that reviewed applications along with: Adam D. Weinberg and Chrissie Iles of the Whitney Museum of American Art; Andy Spade of Partners & Spade; Rafael de Cardenas of Architecture at Large; Kim Hastreiter of Paper Magazine; Christian Viveros Faune of The Village Voice and writer Glenn O’Brien.

What’s even more exciting: from the pool of more than 9,000 applicants, five members of the JBP family have been selected to receive grants. Yes, that’s right: Coke O'Neal, Jason Polan, Rachel Sussman, Tema Stauffer, Taj Forer have all been honored with this amazing opportunity that'll help them grow the projects we've long admired. Join us in congratulating Coke, Jason, Rachel, Tema and Taj as well as all the recipients of this grant.

You can take a look at the complete list of arts and selections of their work here. We can't wait to see how this group of creatives puts their grant money to use—and will, of course, keep you posted.

Curated Version of MoMA by Jason Polan