By Lookout Staff

April 10, 2025 -- Four artists who chronicle hot-button issues -- from affordable housing to human rights -- are the recipients of Santa Monica's 2025 Artist Fellowship.

The annual fellowship "honors outstanding local artists for their artistic excellence and creative contributions to our community," City officials said when the awards were announced Thursday.

The program, which marks it 14th year, has honored nearly 70 artists across a wide range of disciplines that include visual arts, writing, choreography, performance and music.

This year's awards were given to Frances Anderton, Majid Naficy, Jonna Frank and Nicola Goode -- artists who use the writing, photography and film to chronicle life in Los Angeles.

Anderton "focuses on Los Angeles design and architecture in print, broadcast media and public events," according to a post Thursday on the City's website.

Anderton authored the award-winning “Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles” and co-authored “Awesome and Affordable: Great Housing Now,” a multimedia project produced by FORT: LA.

She also lectures on "urban housing typologies at USC School of Architecture and has made short films for the nonprofit housing developers Community Corporation of Santa Monica and Venice Community Housing."

Joining Anderton is Iranian American poet Majid Naficy, who has published five collections of poetry in English and more than 25 books of poetry and essays in Persian.

Naficy, who holds a doctorate in Near Eastern languages and cultures from UCLA, wrote his dissertation on modernism and ideology in Persian literature.

He is "actively engaged in human rights advocacy, focusing on issues in Iran and the United States," City officials said.

Visual artist Jona Frank uses photography and film to chronicle mutiple facets of youth culture. Her most recent book, “Cherry Hill: A Childhood Reimagined,” chronicles the life of a young photographer navigating the constraints of suburbia in the 1970s.

Frank's earlier works include “The Modern Kids,” a series that fuses fine-art portraiture with "the intimacy and intrigue of the boxing world;" “High School,” which examines the social hierarchy of American public high schools, and “RIGHT,” a look at religious youth aspiring to become Republican political leaders.

Nicola Goode -- a visual artist and educator specializing in digital and analogue photography, film making and mixed-media installations -- is this year's recipient of the Kate Johnson Digital Arts Fellowship.

An LA native and longtime Santa Monica resident, Goode's work "explores public and personal archives, revealing contemporary culture and underrepresented histories."

Goode, who is a member of the International Cinematographer’s Guild and the Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers, has shot stills for numerous film productions.

Her work has been exhibited internationally and is part of various public and private collections. She holds a master’s in fine arts from Otis College of Art and Design and a bachelor’s in fine arts from Yale University.

Throughout the year, each artist will present a public program that "offers Santa Monicans a chance to connect with the arts."