The Contemporary Austin is pleased to announce the Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize, a biennial, unrestricted award of $100,000 to be given to an artist selected every two years, which will also include a solo exhibition and scholarly publication. An independent advisory committee comprising renowned curators and art historians will select the recipient.
The Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize is funded by a generous gift to the museum by arts professional and museum trustee Suzanne Deal Booth and administered by The Contemporary Austin. In addition to the award, the prize funds a solo exhibition for the recipient, along with an accompanying publication and related public programming at The Contemporary Austin. The exhibition will be on view at the museum’s downtown venue, the Jones Center, with the option to also be shown at the museum’s outdoor site, the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria.
“The prize will create highly visible outlets for an artist to present newly conceived work to audiences from Central Texas and around the world,” said Louis Grachos, Ernest and Sarah Butler CEO and Director of the Contemporary Austin. “I know our esteemed panel of advisors will select an inaugural recipient who is deserving of increased recognition and for whom the award, exhibition, and publication will be transformative—whether they be an early-, mid-, or late-career artist.”
In addition to Suzanne Deal Booth and Heather Pesanti, the museum’s Senior Curator, the Prize’s inaugural advisory committee includes Stephanie Barron, Senior Curator and Head of Modern Art Department, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Naomi Beckwith, Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Peter Eleey, Chief Curator, MoMA PS1; Hamza Walker, Executive Director, LAXART; and Heidi Zuckerman, Nancy and Bob Magoon CEO and Director, Aspen Art Museum.
The Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize will not include a formal application process. The winner will be selected by the independent advisory committee made up of renowned curators and art historians. Advisory committee members will each nominate artists that they identify based on their own experience, expertise, and knowledge of artists working all over the world. The full committee will then vote to select the recipient from among the artists nominated.
The winner of the Suzanne Deal Booth Art Prize will be announced in fall 2016, with the exhibition to open in early 2018.
