Amanda Ross-Ho Named 2025 Trellis Art Fund Milestone Grant Recipient

Department of Art professor awarded $100,000 to sustain artistic and caregiving practice

UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts Professor Amanda Ross-Ho has been named one of 12 recipients of the 2025 Trellis Art Fund Milestone Grant. The national award recognizes artists who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to their creative practice. The grant includes $100,000 in unrestricted funds, paid over two years, and offers community-building and professional development support.

"I'm blown away and totally humbled by the acknowledgement of this award," said Ross-Ho. "It is so validating to be amongst such an esteemed cohort of artists that I have admired for some time. But what is extra meaningful about this honor is that the Trellis Art Fund specifically identifies a selection of awards for 'caregivers', widening that definition to include those who care for the elderly or special needs family. As a long-time, long-distance caretaker for my father and aunt, who sadly passed away in April of this year, being seen and recognized for this work and the challenges that come with it — specifically as an artist — is moving beyond words. To my knowledge, I have never seen this specific kind of support in the art world, and I hope other organizations take notes. It's extraordinary. I am so grateful."

Ross-Ho was selected from an applicant pool of 81 nominees across 19 states and Puerto Rico, following a rigorous jury review by five anonymous art leaders. She is also one of four artists specifically recognized as a caregiver, an expansion of Trellis Art Fund’s commitment to supporting artists who balance their work with care responsibilities for children, elders or other family members.

Ross-Ho’s work spans sculpture, installation and photography, engaging themes of memory, time and material culture. Her practice often reconfigures everyday objects into altered forms that reframe the viewer’s experience of the familiar. In addition to her extensive exhibition history, including solo presentations at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and public installations in New York City, Ross-Ho is a longstanding educator in the Department of Art at UC Irvine.

The Trellis Art Fund was established in 2024 to recognize and sustain individual artists through unrestricted support and a national community of practice. In addition to the grant, recipients will participate in a retreat in upstate New York this fall, alongside the 2024 cohort.

For more about the 2025 Trellis Art Fund Milestone Grant, visit trellisartfund.org. To learn more about Amanda Ross-Ho, visit her Department of Art bio page here.