August 12, 2025 — Civitella is proud to share that Joyce Hwang (CRF 2024), Jeremy Tiang (CRF 2024), and Amir ElSaffar (CRF 2022) have been awarded New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowships for the 2025 season. Joyce is an Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design Fellow; Jeremy, a Playwriting/Screenwriting Fellow; and, Amir, a Music/Sound Fellow.
On receiving a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design, Buffalo, NY-based Joyce Hwang said: “As an architect who works to advocate for the environment and climate justice, I am grateful for the privilege to live in a state that supports its community of artists. This award will be used toward supporting exploratory phases of an upcoming, self-initiated environmental design project. Innovating research-oriented artistic work is only possible through grants such as this one, and for that, I am very appreciative of NYSCA and NYFA.”
About the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Program
The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program makes unrestricted cash grants of $8,000 to artists working in 15 disciplines, recognizing five disciplines per year on a triennial basis (Photography and Choreography the other two categories not represented by these Civitellians). The program is highly competitive, and this year’s recipients and finalists were selected from 3,672 applicants in discipline-specific peer-review panels. Since it was launched in 1985, the program has awarded over $36.5+ million to 5,611 artists.
- Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design Fellows are using living or natural materials as core elements in their work to explore cycles of growth, decay, and regeneration. Many are considering the geographic and cultural context of their work, with strong community tie-ins. A few applications introduced virtual architecture, AI integration, or digital storytelling, opening new discussions on what constitutes a structure or built environment.
- Playwriting/Screenwriting Fellows included one of the broadest stylistic ranges among the disciplines reviewed, with work samples spanning horror, political satire, historical drama, musicals, animated plays, and personal memoir. Many submissions centered Black, Asian American, Latinx, Jewish, immigrant, and queer narratives and communities. Submissions addressing topics such as current events, disability, colonialism, and environmental justice demonstrated the role of dramatic writing as a vehicle for civic engagement and personal healing.
- Music/Sound Fellows’ work spans Classical, Hip-hop, Jazz, Blues, Experimental Pop, and Sound Art, with demonstrated technical excellence and originality. Artists grounded in lived experience—particularly via immigrant, multicultural, and queer communities—often delivered resonant and grounded submissions. Some combined genres or used unique instrumentation to explore identity, history, or social issues.
Learn more about this years Fellows, Finalists, and Panelists here.