Baltimore�s most prestigious art prize is the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize, a sizable�fellowship�awarded to artists who live or work in the Baltimore region. Unlike the DeCordova Museum of Art�s Rappaport Prize, which was recently awarded to Sam Durant, an artist who grew up in the Boston area but now lives in California, the Sondheim Artscape Prize rewards professional artists who participate�directly in�the local art community. Hats off to Baltimore�s mayor Catherine E. Pugh�and the�Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts�for recognizing the important contributions that artists�make to their neighborhoods.
This year, the Sondheim�s seven finalists�include�Mequitta Ahuja,�Mary Anne Arntzen,�Cindy Cheng,�Sara Dittrich,�Benjamin Kelley,�Kyle Tata, and�Amy Yee, whose work is on display�in a special exhibition at the Walters Art Museum. After assessing the artists� work and interviewing each candidate, jurors Ruba Katrib, Clifford Owens, and Nat Trotman announced that�Cindy Cheng was the 2017 winner. Cheng�takes home a $25,000 prize and the other finalists each receive $2500.�The prize committee also recognizes 26�semi-finalists, whose work is on display in two galleries at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
Cheng works in sculpture and drawing, creating intriguing�Rube Goldberg-like�installations�that she calls�”incubators for history, memory and reflections on the physical and abstract self.” After completing her undergraduate work�at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, Cheng�moved to Baltimore to�enroll�in the�Post-Baccalaureate Program at MICA. She earned her�MFA there in 2011, and currently teaches�in MICA’s�Drawing Department.
Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize 2017 Finalists� Exhibition, the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD. Through August 13, 2017.
Also�on view through August 6�at�the�Decker and Meyerhoff galleries�at�MICA�is�a lively exhibition of the work of the semifinalists. They include�Carolyn Case,�Heather Clark,�Shannon Collis,�Hoesy Corona,�Rachel Debuque,�Selina Doroshenko,�Tim Doud,�Mary Early,�Colin Foster,�Emily Francisco,�Bryan Funk,�Tatiana Gulenkina,�C. Harvey,�Murial Hasbun,�Taha Heydari,�Ricardo Hoegg,�Nathaniel Lewis,�Giulia Livi,�Kelly Lloyd,�Bruce Mckaig,�Scott Pennington,�James Singewald,�Julia Smith,�Beau Vasseur,�Katya Villano,�Jessica Walton,�Xiaofu Wang.
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