15 Jan NEA Award 2025 – OCA
Ogden Contemporary Arts to Receive $25,000 Award
from the National Endowment for the Arts
Ogden, UT—Ogden Contemporary Arts (OCA) is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $25,000. This grant will support the 2025 OCA Artist-in-Residence program. The NEA will award 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million as part of the recent announcement of fiscal year 2025 grants.
“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including Ogden Contemporary Arts’ Artist-in-Residence program.”
“We are deeply honored to receive this support from the National Endowment for the Arts, which will allow Ogden Contemporary Arts to continue fostering creativity and meaningful connections between artists and our community. The Artist-in-Residence program is at the heart of our mission to empower artists and enrich the lives of those in Northern Utah through impactful art and engagement. This grant highlights the value of investing in the arts to inspire dialogue, celebrate diversity, and drive cultural progress.”
—Venessa Castagnoli | OCA Executive Director
The Ogden Contemporary Arts Artist-in-Residence program annually hosts one artist for an eight-week residency emphasizing creation and community engagement, followed by a ten-week solo exhibition. Artists receive a studio space, stipends, housing, and access to OCA’s network, with fair compensation and family-friendly policies like childcare support. Residents are chosen through an invite-only process by a rotating panel of arts professionals, ensuring diverse representation. Community engagement is central, with each artist submitting a detailed plan. Past residents include Ya La’ford (2022), Eric J. García (2023), and Luis Alvaro Sahagún Nuño (2024), each of which enriched Northern Utah residents with healing community engagement initiatives and murals.
For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
About Ogden Contemporary Arts & OCA Center
Ogden Contemporary Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that creates and shares globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advanced arts programming in Ogden, Utah. OCA’s vision is to inspire local and regional artists through active involvement with the international contemporary art community. OCA strives to be viewed as a credible and internationally respected arts organization while empowering artists with the facilities, environment, and experience to excel in their medium and enrich their lives.
OCA Center is Ogden Contemporary Arts’ flagship exhibition space located in the historic Monarch building at 455 25th Street in Ogden, Utah. The multi-use space opened in November 2020 after a significant gift from the Dr. Ezekiel R. & Edna Wattis Dumke Foundation. The Center’s main gallery is titled the “Arts Garage,” named after the building’s historic origin as a 1920s industrial parking garage for the neighboring Bigelow Hotel. OCA Center also includes a digital art room, second floor gallery space, and an artist loft that can be utilized as additional exhibition space or as a studio for visiting artists.