Contemporary artists Jennifer Packer and Marie Watt receive a $250,000 prize at the Heinz Awards.
Artists Jennifer Packer and Marie Watt Honoured with Heinz Awards for the Arts
In a celebrated recognition of their distinctive artistic practices, New York-based Jennifer Packer and Seneca Nation (Haudenosaunee Confederacy) citizen Marie Watt have been named the winners of this year's Heinz Awards for the Arts.
Jennifer Packer, renowned for her jewel-toned paintings, often explores a profound, albeit disquieted, inner world in her art. Her 2021 solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum showcased images of Black figures that delicately balanced figuration and abstraction.
On the other hand, Marie Watt's practice weaves together printmaking, textiles, and sculpture. Her monumental "Blanket Stories" series, now in its third decade, comprises towering structures of folded blankets donated by local communities. Each blanket in this series bears a message that reveals the importance of the object to its original owners. Watt views these blankets as living, storied objects, passed down through generations.
Worn areas, stained bits, and mended parts on the blankets in Watt's "Blanket Stories" series are considered part of the object's history. Her art examines cultural legacies, with a focus on the place of early feminist Haudenosaunee teaching and Indigenous traditions in contemporary community.
The Heinz Awards for the Arts, now in their 30th year, are distributed by the Heinz Family Foundation. Each year, six recipients are named in the categories of arts, the economy, and the environment. The awards carry an unrestricted cash prize of $250,000 each.
Previous years have seen various distinguished recipients honoured, although specific names of winners in past years are not detailed in the provided search results.
The Heinz Awards for the Arts serve as a testament to the enduring impact of art and the artists who create it. This year, the spotlight shines on Jennifer Packer and Marie Watt, two artists whose work continues to challenge, inspire, and enrich our collective cultural landscape.
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