BRATTLEBORO — Four of Vermont’s contemporary art institutions are teaming up to award The Vermont Prize, an endeavor that celebrates and supports creators of visual art in this state. The prize is a collaborative initiative of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC), Burlington City Arts (BCA), the Hall Art Foundation, and The Current (formerly the Helen Day Art Center).
“Although Vermont is a small state, there is an astonishing variety of exceptional visual art being created here,” BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld said in a news release. “The goal of this collaboration is to enhance public awareness and appreciation of that particular thread in Vermont’s rich cultural fabric.”
The Vermont Prize is awarded to one artist annually. Last year, visual artist, graffiti scholar, and educator Will Kasso Condry received the inaugural prize. In his Afrofuturist art, Condry “weave[s] the rich and layered stories of the African diaspora,” as he writes in an artist statement. “I want the observer to be transported within a universe filled with infinite possibilities; to understand that the Black imagination is our key to liberation, and that Black joy is the root that binds it all.”
The Vermont Prize is juried by a team consisting of one representative from each of the four partner organizations, as well as a fifth independent and unaffiliated juror. This year, the independent juror is Chrissie Iles, the Anne & Joel Ehrenkranz Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Iles has curated numerous exhibitions, including surveys of Louise Bourgeois and Donald Judd, as well as several major thematic exhibitions, including “Into the Light: The Projected Image in American Art 1964–1977,” “Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art 1910–2016,” and “Mountain/Time.” She is currently co-curating the 2024 Whitney Biennial.
The other 2023 jurors are BMAC Director of Exhibitions Sarah Freeman, BCA Curator and Director of Exhibitions Heather Ferrell, Hall Art Foundation Director Maryse Brand, and The Current Executive Director Rachel Moore.
“Contemporary visual artists are increasingly coming to or staying in Vermont to work,” Brand said. “These artists are creating innovative, beautiful, challenging, and exciting artwork, worthy of being appreciated within Vermont and also on a national level. We are excited to celebrate and support their work while also expanding on popular ideas of what constitutes Vermont art.”
“This collaborative initiative provides an opportunity to share the high caliber work that comes out of Vermont and define our position within the contemporary art world,” Moore said.
“The Vermont Prize is so important to our state and to our arts community for underscoring the incredible breadth of our contemporary art and artists. Joining together in this initiative, our collective organizations are proud to help counter some of the naive and outdated notions regarding the caliber of artists working in Vermont,” BCA Executive Director Doreen Kraft said.
The winner of The Vermont Prize receives $5,000, and their work is showcased and archived at vermontprize.org and on social media.
The prize is open to individuals as well as collaborating artists currently living and working in the state. Artists working in any visual medium are welcome to apply. There is no application fee. The application deadline is Friday, March 31.
The winner will be selected on the basis of artistic excellence, regardless of career stage, and will be announced on Friday, June 30.
Visit vermontprize.org for more information or to apply.