WASHINGTON, DC.- The Luther W. Brady Art Gallery at the George Washington University opened the exhibit The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund: Artists of The First Three Years through January 26, 2007. Since 2002, the Franz and Virginia Bader Fund has distributed $185,000 to 10 grantees. For many of the artists the grant came at a critical juncture in their careers, enabling them to sustain a dream of self-realization through their art. The funds enabled the artists to take time off from other jobs, cover traveling expenses for exhibitions, construct new studio space, and experiment in other media. The Luther W. Brady Art Gallery exhibits the work of the first seven recipients of this unique grant. The artists in the exhibition are Alex Kanevsky, Steven Kenny, the late Kevin MacDonald (GW B.F.A. '69), Susan Moore, Scott Noel, Charles Ritchie, and GW Visiting Assistant Professor Yuriko Yamaguchi. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Kevin MacDonald (1946 - 2006).

The Franz and Virginia Bader Fund was established in 2001 in accordance to the will of the late Virginia Bader to provide grants to visual artists who have reached the age of 40 and reside within 150 miles of Washington, D.C. The grants are awarded by a committee of nine, all friends of Franz and Virginia Bader. Virginia Forman Bader, was the widow of Franz Bader, a well known Washington gallery and art bookstore owner who was given an honorary D.F.A by GW in 1984.