Giorno Poetry Systems Launches Annual Grant Inspired by John Giorno’s AIDS-Era Support
A new artist grant in New York is reaching back to one of the city’s most urgent moments of mutual aid. Giorno Poetry Systems, the nonprofit founded by American artist and writer John Giorno (1936–2019) in 1965, has introduced the Treat a Stranger Grant, an annual need-based program modeled on the AIDS Treatment Project Giorno ran in the 1980s and ’90s.
The first round of awards gives $4,545 to 12 artists: Samiya Bashir, Malcolm-X Betts, Pe Ferreira, Mercy Kelly, Agosto Machado, Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), Gavilán Rayna Russom, Jacolby Satterwhite, Keioui Keijaun Thomas, Christopher Udemezue, and two recipients who chose to remain anonymous. Funds designated for Machado will go to his estate after his death last month, following the selection process.
The grant is unrestricted, and GPS says it will be offered annually. According to the organization, the jury for this year’s round was kept anonymous in order to center the needs of the recipients rather than the identities of the selectors. That choice fits the program’s larger premise: support should arrive without conditions, and without forcing artists to perform their vulnerability for public scrutiny.
Anthony Huberman, executive artistic director of Giorno Poetry Systems, said the initiative reflects the organization’s long-standing belief that artists, poets, and musicians need direct financial support to keep working, especially in New York, where the cost of living continues to climb. He described the grant as an extension of what Giorno established during the AIDS crisis, when many artists faced immediate material need.
The new program also arrives as GPS continues to expand its public programming at The Bunker, its Bowery home base. Over the past two years, the space has hosted events ranging from music and lectures to artist-led conversations. This week, it is presenting a three-night program organized by artist Mark Leckey; next month, it will host a conference on artist-curated exhibitions; and in June, Zoe Leonard will speak with curator Lynne Cooke about the Roma artist Ceila Stojka.
For GPS, the grant is more than a gesture of remembrance. It is a practical reminder that artistic production depends on material support, and that the most durable forms of care in the art world are often the least theatrical.
