THE BENNETT PRIZE: TOP TEN
Art collectors Steven Bennett and Elaine Melotti Schmidt created the first-ever prize for women figurative artists. After 647 entrants, we are pleased to announce the 10 finalists.
The March 2017 issue of American Art Collector featured an extensive, multipage article on the Texas home of collectors Steven Bennett and Elaine Melotti Schmidt. The collection—which included many paintings that had appeared on the pages of this magazine—focused on paintings of women by women figurative artists such as Andrea Kowch, Katie O’Hagan, Zoey Frank, Anna Wypych, Suzanne Anan, Candice Bohannon and Pamela Wilson.
This past April, Bennett and Schmidt announced The Bennett Prize for women figurative realist painters. The two decided that the prize would be $50,000 to fund an exhibition that would then tour the country. The amount stems from the idea that the two wanted to fund an artist in a way that would allow the winner to spend one year entirely focused on creating artwork.
“In our discussions with women artists, we could sense the genuine struggle presented by making a living, raising a family and trying to paint, all at the same time,” says Schmidt. “Our worry was that all this juggling, when combined with working in obscurity, might invite some women to quit too soon.”
In six months, Bennett and Schmidt saw almost 650 women from 45 different states across the country apply for the prize. In mid-November, the 10 finalists were announced. The finalists are: Dorielle Caimi, Jennifer Campbell, Kira Nam Greene, Mary Henderson, Aneka Ingold, Stefanie Jackson, Daniela Kovačić, Rebecca
Leveille, Jenny Morgan and Carrie Pearce.
The winner, who will be announced in May 2019, will receive $25,000 annually for two years to allow her to devote the time necessary to mount a solo exhibition of figurative realist paintings, which will open at Muskegon Museum of Art in 2021 and then travel the country.
Bennett and Schmidt also endowed a $3 million fund at the Pittsburgh Foundation to ensure The Prize will be awarded every two years in perpetuity.
“More people should be seeing the important figurative realist paintings that women are creating,” says Bennett. “These painters have much to say at a time when we’re struggling to understand human differences, including gender and race.”
Bennett and Schmidt have been overwhelmed by the response and the interest in the prize. It just reaffirms for them the need for such an award.
“When we first announced The Prize and the exhibition surrounding it, we knew there was a need for more support for women artists, but we had no way of knowing just where this project might go,” says Bennett. “This level of interest has given us the assurance that The Bennett Prize and exhibition can be sustained and grown, helping give voice and support to figurative women painters around the country for years to come.”
Look for another in-depth article on the winner of the prize later this year!