Round 19 (2026)
Saran Alderson – Rosin & Talc Community Printmaking Project
Salima Bowaniya & Sol Diaz-Peña with support from Ryan Hollaway – Pesadito
Mitchell Collins & Sofia Silueta – It’s a City Not a Choice
Friends Gallery- a QTBIPOC community art space
Preston Gaines – IN Nature: A Living Tapestry
Jessica Carolina González – Superneighborhood 27: The “Gulfton Ghetto”
Jennifer Marion – A to B. B to A. Repeat.
Quentin Pace – Artist Archive Development Workshop
Joe Robles – Still Growing Up Here
Jesse Spiehler & Logan Tuttle – Queer Estuaries
aisha tida – Diaspora Dumplings: Pantry Tours x Traveling Test Kitchen
Chris Wicker, Anna Taylor & Trent Teinert – YARD
Meet the Jurors
Round 19 was juried by Lani Asunción, interdisciplinary multimedia artist and independent curator, Boston, MA; Sebastien Boncy, photographer, educator, and Round 18 Grantee, Houston, TX; and Alexis Wilkinson, Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, Tucson, AZ.
“It was a pleasure to join the juror team for TIF Round 19, learning about the creative fabric that makes up the Greater Houston arts community and being a part of supporting artists doing important, community-engaged, focused work during challenging times. ” – Lani Asunción
“When we say Houston with love in our voice, we certainly do not mean the tangle of highways governed by regressive politics. We are talking about the idiosyncratic, accomplished, uncompromising panoply of weirdoes building essential culture within its concrete folds. For years, The Idea Fund has been about encouraging suspect behavior by giving these good folks seed money for their cathedrals. It’s been wonderful to participate in the process.” – Sebastien Boncy
“It was an honor to participate on the The Idea Fund Round 19 jury. The volume of dynamic and competitive proposals submitted made the selection process a challenge, and speaks to the wealth of creative forces in Houston. Congrats to the Round 19 awardees!” – Alexis Wilkinson
Lani Asunción is a Boston-based queer Filipinx multimedia artist who explores the intricacies of identity and belonging with ritualized performance and public art that serve as acts of reclamation. In their work, they seek to create public spaces where alternative ethics of care, community healing, and social solidarity can thrive. Asunción was selected as a 2025 WBUR Maker showcasing their work at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA Boston), and is a recipient of the MAP Fund Grant (2024), Kala Fellowship Award (2023), Future Frequencies Fellowship from the MASS MoCA Studios (2022), and awarded the 2021 Public Art for Spatial Justice Grant from New England Foundation for the Arts. Asunción received their MFA from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut. They teach as a visiting lecturer at Massachusetts College of Art & Design in the Fine Arts 3D in the Sculpture Department, teaching public art and performance. Asunción was the Curator & Public Art Manager of the 2024-2025 Un-monument initiative projects at Pao Arts Center (BCNC) in partnership with the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, supported by the Mellon Foundation.
Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sebastien Boncy has called Houston home since the late nineties. He received a BFA from the University of Houston, followed by a detour in public education, then earned an MFA in photography from the University of North Texas. He has taught at the University of Houston, Lone Star Colleges, the University of North Texas, Houston Center for Photography. His writing has been published in Glasstire, Not That But This, Fotodok, Art + Culture, Fototazo, and Flat Files. His photographs and videos have been exhibited at Art League Houston, Visible Records, The Mystic Lyon, Galveston Art Center, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, and Aurora Picture Show.
Alexis Wilkinson is a curator working across dance, performance, and visual art. She is currently Curator at MOCA Tucson. She served as Director of Exhibitions and Live Art at Knockdown Center in Queens, NY, from 2017 to 2021, where she organized interdisciplinary exhibitions, performances, and events. She was a 2017 – 2018 AIRspace curator-in-residence at Abrons Art Center, New York and the 2017 Curatorial Fellow at SculptureCenter, New York. Wilkinson has organized exhibitions and performances at SculptureCenter (NY), the Judd Foundation (NY), Abrons Art Center (NY), A.I.R. Gallery (NY), The Chocolate Factory (NY), the Luminary (MO), and NADA (NY), among others. Wilkinson has held research, administrative, and curatorial support roles at the New Museum, New York and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. She holds an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College and a BA in Cultural Studies, Dance, and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles