The Gordon Parks Foundation marks 20 years with expanded fellowships and 2026 awardees

The 2026 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellows in Art are Sanford Biggers and Amanda Williams. Leigh Raiford, Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies on the University of California, Berkeley, has been named the 2026 Genevieve Young Fellow in Writing, whereas jazz pianist, composer and efficiency artist Jason Moran is the inaugural recipient of the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship in Music.

“For Gordon Parks, art was never singular,” mentioned Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Executive Director of The Gordon Parks Foundation. “Across writing, photography, painting and now music, he understood creative practice as one of the most powerful tools for shaping how we see the world. Our 2026 fellows extend this legacy.”

Since 2017, the Foundation has awarded annual fellowships to artists working throughout a spread of fields and mediums, supporting new or ongoing initiatives that discover themes of illustration and social justice. Fellows take part in Foundation initiatives all year long, culminating in a solo exhibition at The Gordon Parks Foundation Gallery in Pleasantville, New York. The Foundation additionally acquires work by the artwork fellows for its everlasting assortment.