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The Gwendolyn Knight & Jacob Lawrence Prize

Two visitors holding hands walk through a gallery with Lauren Halsey's large, bright sculptures at the center.
About

The Seattle Art Museum’s Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence Prize is awarded biennially to an early to mid-career career Black artist, defined loosely as an artist in the first decade of their career who demonstrates artistic commitment and great promise.

The prestigious award recognizes artists whose prominence is rising in the contemporary art world, and who have already made important contributions to the visual arts. Past prize recipients are now leaders in contemporary artistic practices.

Gwendolyn Knight (1913–2005) and Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) were renowned artists and dedicated teachers who lived and worked in Seattle for much of their lives and recognized the need for Black artists to have support and advocacy. The prize was founded in honor of these two artists and continues their legacy, providing inspiration for young artists and scholarship in the field of art history. Funding for the prize and exhibition is provided by the Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence and Jacob Lawrence Endowment and generous support from the Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation.

What to know

The selected artist is awarded a solo exhibition at SAM and receives an unrestricted $15,000 award to further their artistic practice.

The nomination process is anonymous. Nominations are collected from a rotating national pool of highly regarded curators, scholars, artists, and arts leaders. Each nominator is invited to provide a short list of artists whose work demonstrates excellence in execution and vision. Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Director and CEO of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, led the anonymous nomination process this year. Since 2009, she was the founding curator of the prize’s exhibitions. Jackson-Dumont was formerly the Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chairman of Education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; prior to that, she was SAM’s former Deputy Director for Education and Public Programs and Adjunct Curator in Modern and Contemporary Art.

Current Gwendolyn Knight and
Jacob Lawrence Prize winner 

Bethany Collins
Photo: Evan Jenkins
Bethany Collins

Collins’s conceptually driven work uses language as both subject and medium to explore the nuances and intersections of language, racial identity, and American history. The artist’s work was featured at SAM previously in Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle (2021) and will present new work in this 2024 solo show.

Collins received her BA in Studio Art and Photojournalism from the University of Alabama, and her MFA from Georgia State University. She was the 2013-2014 Artist-in-Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, and 2019 Public Humanities Practitioner-in-Residence at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. Collins was awarded the Hudgens Prize in 2015 and Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship in 2018. Upcoming and recent solo museum exhibitions include presentations at the Frist Museum, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, CAM St. Louis, Peabody Essex Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.


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Knight Lawrence Prize winners

2021
Lauren Halsey

2019
Aaron Fowler

2017
Sondra Perry

2015
Brenna Youngblood

2013
LaToya Ruby Frazier

2011
Theaster Gates

2009
Titus Kaphar

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