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Grant Winner, Albert Cleophus Willis, who prefers to go by ‘Cleophus’ in the fine art world, was a little surprised when he won the 2021 Not Real Art Grant because he wasn’t sure his art would be categorized as not real enough. “I feel like I’ve been discriminated against because my art is so traditional. I think people view it as something that’s been done, rather than what it is that’s being done. I’m one of those artists who shies away from interviews. I think people should focus on the art rather than the artist, even though I know this is naive because people really are buying a piece of the artist. But I hope that one day, they will look at the art and let the art stand on its own.”

2021 Not Real Art grant winner, Carmen Mardonez grew up in Chile. The oldest of nine siblings, Mardonez shares that growing up in a big religious family meant that the expectations are, “to be a good woman who takes care of your husband, your house, and your kids. To be a woman who doesn’t speak too much or is too loud, who knows her place. I didn’t really like that. I was fighting with that idea for a long time. I was refusing to be that kind of woman, but when I realized I was pregnant, I was like ‘Oh my God, now I’m gonna be that woman.’”

In high school, 2021 Not Real Art Grant winner, Nadyia Duff, chose Cooking as her elective. But, as fate – or the art gods would have it, cooking class was full, and Duff was placed in an art class. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Duff moved to Miami, FL in the mid-‘90s where she still resides today. Her artist bio reads, “Nadyia Duff is a Jamaican/American multiethnic Artist, Art Educator, and Museum Educator living and working in Miami Florida. Nadyia combines the painterly and realistic to tell elaborate narratives using her method of drawing and painting.”

Not Real Art Grant Winner, John Chang was born and raised in Shanghai, which he describes as a “big city – the same as a New York.” While some might think that’s exotic, Chang says that as a child, he sometimes found it boring. But boredom would not dominate Chang’s childhood. Instead, his mother gave him an ultimatum – either make art or play the piano. For a time, John did both until his love of pencil drawing became his driving artistic force.

International artist and 2021 grant winner, Natalia Villanueva Linares was born in the south of France to Peruvian parents. A graduate of École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris, Linares’ work has been featured in galleries, art fairs, and exhibitions in Paris, Peru, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ecuador, and the United States. She is also the founder of the magazine Ukayzine, created to promote international cultural exchanges through the visual arts.