Ceramicist Sam Mack is the winner of the 19th annual Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize, awarded Thursday night at the Walters Art Museum.
Mixed media artist Amy Boone-McCreesh came in second and weaver Hellen Ascoli finished third. Their work is on view at the museum, 600 N. Charles St., until Sept. 8.
Mack, who lives and works in Baltimore, will receive $30,000. Mack received a MFA in Studio Art degree from the School of Art at the University of Arkansas and uses contemporary and historic ceramic vessels as primary materials for site-responsive sculpture. The artist has exhibited internationally and is currently represented by Galleri Urbane in Dallas, Texas.
Boone-McCreesh will receive a studio residency at the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower. Each finalist also received a $2,500 M&T Bank Finalist Award to assist them in preparing for the Sondheim Finalists Exhibition.
The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) presents the annual award in partnership with the museum, M&T Bank and the Maryland State Arts Council.
Named after two civic leaders who were strong supporters of the arts and Baltimore, the prize is given “to assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Greater Baltimore region.”
Jurors for the 2024 competition were: artist, scholar and poet Noel W. Anderson; curator, educator and historian Connie H. Choi and curator, historian and lecturer Aaron Levi Garvey. Lou Joseph is BOPA’s Prizes and Competitions Manager. Christine Sciacca, curator of European Art at the Walters, is the exhibition curator.
Walters Art Museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and from 1 to 8 p.m. on Thursday. Admission is free.
