New York, April 19, 2022—The American Academy of Arts and Letters announces the fifteen artists who will receive its 2022 awards in art. The art prizes and purchases, totaling $240,000, honor both established and emerging artists. The members of this year’s award committee were: Catherine Murphy (chair), Mel Chin, Judy Pfaff, Joel Shapiro, Amy Sillman, and Peter Saul.
Arts and Letters Awards in Art
Five awards of $10,000 each to honor exceptional accomplishment and to encourage creative work.
CANDIDA ALVAREZ
GARRETT BRADLEY
KELTIE FERRIS
JUDY FOX
RACHEL HARRISON
Jacob Lawrence Award in Art
$10,000 to a visual artist.
SUZANNE JACKSON
Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Award in Art
$10,000 to a visual artist.
ELLEN BERKENBLIT
Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Art
$10,000 to a young painter of distinction.
KERSTIN BRÄTSCH
Art Purchase Prizes
The Academy’s purchase program places the work of talented, living American artists in museums across the United States.
The American Academy of Arts and Letters
ANDREA BELAG
CARL D’ALVIA
HADI FALLAHPISHEH
PAM LINS
MATT SAUNDERS
SHINIQUE SMITH
MARTINE SYMS
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in 1898 as an honor society of the country’s leading architects, artists, composers, and writers. Early members include William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Julia Ward Howe, Henry James, Edward MacDowell, Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint- Gaudens, John Singer Sargent, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton. The Academy’s 300 members are elected for life and pay no dues. In addition to electing new members as vacancies occur, the Academy seeks to foster and sustain an interest in Literature, Music, and the Fine Arts by administering over 70 awards and prizes, exhibiting, funding performances of new works of musical theater, and purchasing artwork for donation to museums across the country.