Phoenix Art Museum awards Lifetime Memberships to 200+ Arizona-based artists

May, 17, 2023

Special Events and Programs

Phoenix Art Museum awards Lifetime Memberships to 200+ Arizona-based artists

The Museum grants lifetime admission to all former Scult Artist Award and Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards recipients in recognition of their creative contributions to Arizona’s visual arts

PHOENIX (May 17, 2023) – Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) announces today that effective immediately, the institution is granting Lifetime Memberships to all past and future recipients of its Arlene and Morton Scult Artist Award and Sally and Richard Lehmann Emerging Artist Award, which provide funding and exhibition opportunities to Arizona-based mid-career and emerging artists, respectively. The gift, which recognizes these artists’ important contributions to Arizona’s visual arts culture, builds on the awards’ history of highlighting and amplifying artistic talent across the state and extends PhxArt’s mission to showcase Arizona’s wide-ranging creative practices and artistic excellence. With their new Lifetime Memberships, more than 200 previous recipients will enjoy unlimited PhxArt admission for two adults and all youth aged 17 and younger, as well as reciprocal admission to 1,000+ museums and institutions across North America.

“We are very excited to extend this offering to all recipients of Phoenix Art Museum’s artist awards, whose practices reflect the wealth of creativity throughout our state,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO. “Our goal in honoring these awardees with Lifetime Memberships is to underscore our support for these artists whose work is central to the arts landscape. By recognizing emerging and developing talent through these awards, we aim to foster our next generation of local artists and bring greater awareness to the depth and dynamism of Arizona’s cultural ecosystem.”

ABOUT THE ARLENE AND MORTON SCULT ARTIST AWARD
Each year, Phoenix Art Museum recognizes a mid-career Arizona-based artist with the Arlene and Morton Scult Artist Award (Scult Artist Award). Eligible candidates have resided in Arizona for a minimum of four consecutive years and are nominated by a group of curators, museum directors, and other arts professionals from across Arizona. Their candidacy is evaluated based on their demonstration of artistic excellence, active creation and exhibition of new work, and career-long growth and evolution. Following a robust review process, a jury of curators, art scholars, artists, and other visual arts experts and professionals from across the state selects the recipient.

In addition to lifetime PhxArt Membership, the Scult Artist Award includes monetary support of $10,000 as well as an invitation to present a solo exhibition at the Museum of new and past work, at the discretion of the artist.

The Arlene and Morton Scult Artist Award program is a continuation of a mid-career artist award established in 2006 by former Museum support group Contemporary Forum. The Museum began offering the annual award in 2010, and the program was rebranded in 2018 to acknowledge the philanthropic support of local donors Arlene and Morton Scult. Through the program, Phoenix Art Museum has awarded support to 13 Arizona-based artists.

Past and Upcoming Award Recipients
2023 – Fronterizx Collective (Exhibition title forthcoming)
2021 – Sama Alshaibi // Generation After Generation
2019 – Ann Morton // The Violet Protest
2018 – Julio César Morales // Invaders
2017 – Matt Magee // •>][<‘.”-,}~{•*|
2016 – Patricia Sannit // Rise Fall Rise*
2015 – Saskia Jordá // A Geography of Line*
2014 – Rachel Bess // 2014 Contemporary Forum Artists Grant Winners*
2013 – Colin Chillag // 2013 Contemporary Forum Mid-Career Artist Award Exhibition
2012 – Annie Lopez // 2012 Contemporary Forum Mid-Career Artist Award Exhibition*
2011 – Gregory Sale // 2011 Contemporary Forum Mid-Career Artist Award Exhibition*
2010 – Mayme Kratz*
2006 – John Haddock

*Former Emerging Artist Award recipient

ABOUT THE SALLY AND RICHARD LEHMANN EMERGING ARTIST AWARDS
The Sally and Richard Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards (Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards) are presented annually by Phoenix Art Museum to foster the creative practices and careers of emerging Arizona-based artists by providing recognition, financial support, and an opportunity to exhibit their work. In order to apply through the annual open call, candidates must register as an Articipant with Artlink, a nonprofit organization that has supported and amplified Arizona artists and community-based art events and initiatives for more than 30 years. Candidates must have resided in Arizona for a minimum of one year. A jury of curators, art scholars, artists, and other visual arts experts and professionals from across the state select recipients, who in addition to the lifetime PhxArt Membership, receive monetary support of $5,000 as well as the opportunity to present a joint exhibition at the Museum with fellow Lehmann awardees.

The Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards are a continuation of an artists’ grants program launched in 1986 by the former Museum support group Contemporary Forum. The Contemporary Forum artists’ grants concluded in 2017, at which time Phoenix Art Museum continued to subsidize the program to support and amplify recognition of Arizona-based artists. In April 2021, the program was rebranded to acknowledge the philanthropic support of local donors Sally and Richard Lehmann. Over the grant program’s nearly 40-year history, Phoenix Art Museum has awarded support to more than 190 Arizona-based artists, many of whom have later received the Arlene and Morton Scult Artist Award, including Ann Morton, Patricia Sannit, Saskia Jordá, Rachel Bess, Annie Lopez, Gregory Sale, and Mayme Kratz.

Past and Upcoming Emerging Artist Award Recipients
2023 – Yartiza Flores Bustos and Alejandro Macias
2021 – Gloria Martinez-Granados, Chris Vena, and Merryn Omotayo Alaka and Sam Frésquez
2019 – Christina Gednalske, Danielle Hacche, Lena Klett, Nazafarin Lotfi, and Kimberly Lyle
2018 – Papay Solomon, Taylor James, Elliot Jamal Robbins, and Malakai
2017 – Laura Spalding Best, Christopher Jagmin, and Casey Farina
2016 – David Emitt Adams, Mary Meyer, Constance McBride, Bryan David Griffith, and Christine Cassano
2015 – Anna Garner, Claire A. Warden, Rossitza Todorova, Kazuma Sambe, Rembrandt Quiballo, Abbey  Messmer, and Nathaniel Lewis
2014 – Kerstin L. Dale, Bill Dambrova, Karen Hymer, Hyunji Lee, Lauren Strohacker and Kendra Sollars, Larry Valencia Madrigal, and Ben Willis
2013 – Sean Deckert, Mohammad Reza Javaheri, Kim Largey, La Muñeca, Michael McLeod, Ann Morton, and David Sherman
2012 – James Angel, Kristin Bauer, Carolyn Lavender, Irma Sanchez, Karolina Sussland, Nic Wiesinger, and Paul S. Wilson
2011 – Peter Bugg, Cy Edgar Keener and Jay Atherton, William Le Goullon, Melissa Martinez, Aaron Rothman, John Tuomisto-Bell, and Lisa Corine von Koch
2010 – Claudio Dicochea, Debra Edgerton, Xóchitl Cristina Gil-Higuchi, Mary Lucking, Adria Pecora, Kris Sanford, and Alison R. Sweet
2009 – Kjellgren Alkire, Susan Beiner, Mitch Fry, Saskia Jordá, Yuri Makino, Deb Salac, and Keith Stanton
2008 – Alan Bur Johnson, Bridget Chérie Harper, Eliza Gregory, Richard Lerman, Patricia Sannit, and Derek Wilkinson
2007 – Rachel Bess, Valerie Constantino, Mona Higuchi, Karl Kroeppler, Mark Pomilio, Chris Santa Maria, and Kaori Takamura
2006 – Julie Anand, Carolina Escobar, Heidi Hesse, Leigh Merrill, Dominic Miller, Matthew Paweski, and Jen Urso
2005 – Craig Cully, Jes Gettler, Brad Konick, Carrie Marill, Matthew Moore, Michael A. Wirtz, and Denise Yaghmourian
2004 – Don Kauss, Nissa Kubly, Marc Leone, Dave Lewis, Shawn R. Skabelund, Erin V. Sotak, and Steven Yazzie
2003 – Alice Leora Briggs, Nobuhito Nishigawara, Mary Porterfield, Gwyneth Scally, and Hirotsune Tashima
2002 – Ernie Button, Melissa M. Button, Stephen Johnson, Darren Lewis, and Christina Ramirez
2001 – Julia Latané, Malinda Theisman, Ted Uran, Frances McMahon Ward, and Steve Weiss
2000 – Myriam Babin, Bob Carey, Aurora Hughes Villa, Kathryn Maxwell, and Al Price
1999 – Sue Chenoweth, Michael Longstaff, Beverly McIver, Chris Rush, and Xiaoze Xie
1998 – Brent Bond, Timothy Chapman, Diana Clauss, Jerry Jacobson, and Scott Massey
1997 – Alison Dunn, Angela Ellsworth, Steve Gompf, Anthony Pressler, and Herb Stratford
1996 – Joseph Labate, Rick Lloyd, Kelly B. Morris, Jeff Schmuki, and Henry Leo Schoebel
1995 – Dan Collins, Joel Coplin, Keith Alan Gossiaux, Martina M. Shenal, and Deborah Wozniak
1994 – Paula Wittner, Elaine S. Querry, Gregory Sale, Sean O’Donnell, and Robyn Stoutenburg
1993 – Jerry Allen Gilmore, Annie Lopez, Marie Navarre, Andrew Polk, and Craig Smith
1992 – Robert Adams, Cecilie Arcari, Mayme Kratz, Alfred J. Quiroz, and Kelvin Yazzie
1991 – Cristina Cardenas, Janet de Berge Lange, Michael Marlowe, and Alistar Milne
1990 – Bruce Behnfeldt, Mark Derby, and Arthur Vincent
1989 – Cameron Aldrich, Barbara Gilson, Helen Hestenes, Marilyn Szabo, and Tony Zahn
1988 – Lew Alquist, Bailey Doogan, Gayle J. Novak, Elaine Orlinsky, and Kenneth Shorr
1987 – Brian Borello, Robert D. Cocke, Hogue Day, Linda Mundwiler, and David Therrien
1986 – Lea Black, Trish Wann, Roberto Marquez, Ann Simmons-Myers, and Gregory Wes

For more information on the Scult Artist Award and the Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards, contact the Museum’s Communications Office at samantha.santos@phxart.org or 602.257.2117. For high-resolution photography, click here.

About Phoenix Art Museum
Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum has provided millions of guests with access to world-class art and experiences in an effort to ignite imaginations, create meaningful connections, and serve as a brave space for all people who wish to experience the transformative power of art. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, the Museum is a vibrant destination for the visual arts and the largest art museum in the southwestern United States. Each year, more than 350,000 guests engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 20,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. The Museum also presents a comprehensive film program, live performances, and educational programs designed for visitors of all ages, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.

About Artlink Inc.
Artlink keeps the arts integral to our development by connecting artists, businesses, and the community. Founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by artists in 1989, the Artlink name is a guiding principle for the organization, as it supports stakeholders of the arts and culture community, amplifying its collective strength. Visit artlinkphx.org to sign up for the Artlink newsletter, or connect socially on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.