The New Museum Announces a Major Award for Sculpture by Women Artists

The New Museum announced today the inauguration of a biennial award for sculpture, made possible through a grant from the Hostetler/Wrigley Foundation. With this $2- million grant, the New Museum will provide a biennial award to fund the production of new sculptural works by women artists. There will be five recipients of the Hostetler/Wrigley Sculpture Award, over a ten-year period.

In addition to the Award, the works will be exhibited in the Museum’s forthcoming public plaza on the Bowery. The $2-million grant will underwrite the artists' honorarium, the costs of production, installation, and exhibition. The jury for the award will be announced by the Museum in early 2022. Artists will be nominated, with the finalist selected by the jury. The first commission will be announced at the end of 2022.

“Beau and I are thrilled to establish this award to recognize and honor contemporary women artists with outstanding talent,” says Sue Hostetler Wrigley. “Supporting and celebrating the significant achievements of women artists, who have a history of being overlooked, and making art as public as possible, are two of our foundation’s central missions. Our intent is that the award will also help continue the critical conversation about parity for women. Collaborating with the New Museum, an institution which shares our ethos of ambitious, innovative approaches and momentum through equality of opportunity, is the perfect partnership.”

“This award both acknowledges and builds on the New Museum’s legacy of championing women artists,” says Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum. “We are deeply grateful to Trustee Sue Hostetler Wrigley and Beau Wrigley for this generous gift that will enable us to further support the creation of new works by some of the best artists working today.”

Founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, the New Museum has been led by just two women throughout its 44-year history. In 2016 the Museum established the Artemis Council—a group of women philanthropists supporting women artists—of which Hostetler Wrigley was a founding member. The Museum’s program has always supported gender equity: 53 percent of the artists exhibited since 1977 have been women, increasing to 65 percent over the past five years. The 2021 Triennial, curated by Margot Norton and Jamillah James and opening next month, features majority women artists. The Museum’s history of exhibitions and leadership on staff and board are a testimony to this institution-wide commitment to advancing women.