Five visionary artists and craftspeople receive $100,000 each in unrestricted funding
In the Maxwell/Hanrahan Awards in Craft, we recognize award winners for their unique and visionary approach to material-based practice, stewardship of cultural traditions, and craft’s potential to connect people, places and ideas.
Exploration and insight require time and commitment. Through this award, the Foundation seeks to make both possible for devoted craftspeople and artists who strive to express what they see and experience in the world through their engagement with material. We provide groundbreaking support for practitioners who are challenging and reimagining our collective understanding of craft as a medium and practice — and doing so at critical junctures in their careers. These are one-time, unrestricted awards intended to amplify the voices and work of each craftsperson and give them time and funding as they grow in their careers and propel their work forward. We recognize that arts funding, especially for craftspeople, is lacking in the US, and we encourage others to commit to these fields.
The award’s newest cohort features recipients whose work spans clay, glass, stone and wood, among other media. Their practices draw upon a range of artistic traditions as well as ecological, personal and social influences, representing the multifaceted realities of contemporary craft. The awards committee selected winners for their visionary approaches to material-based practice, their potential to make significant contributions to their craft in the future and the potential for this award to provide momentum at a critical junctures in their work. We aim to recognize the vibrancy of the field and the importance of these artists’ varied, hands-on explorations of cultural heritage, emerging technologies, materials and trades, and the intersections between them.
The Foundation partnered with United States Artists to administer the program. Award-winner selection panelists included Sarah Darro, curator and exhibitions director of Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; Leslie Noell, creative director at Penland School of Craft; Phillip Smith, assistant professor of architecture at the American College of the Building Arts; and Leo Tecosky, glass blower and 2023 Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Craft awardee.
Cristina Córdova is a ceramic sculptor whose work is influenced by the rich creative heritage of the Caribbean. Using clay to give voice to regional stories and aesthetic inquiries, Córdova strives to honor and innovate within this ceramic lineage, expanding collective creative language.
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