Gabriela Bulisova Wins Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize

BALTIMORE, MD (July 13, 2013)—Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) announce Gabriela Bulisova is the winner of the 2013 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. The $25,000 award was presented Saturday, July 13 at the Walters Art Museum. The five other finalists received $2,500 honorariums supported by M&T Bank in partnership with BOPA.  Works of art by the winner and finalists are on view at the Walters Art Museum through August 11.

Bulisova is a documentary photographer and multimedia artist based in the Washington, D.C. area.  Her work focuses on underreported and overlooked stories affecting marginalized populations around the world and in the United States. She has received numerous awards for her work including the National Press Photographers Association’s Short Grant, Open Society Institute’s Moving Walls 18, the Corcoran College of Art + Design Faculty Award, and a Puffin Foundation Grant. Her work has been exhibited extensively in the Washington, D.C. area where she is a member of the Metro Collective Photo Agency. She is a 2005 graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program in photography and digital imaging at the Maryland Institute College of Art and teaches photojournalism at the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

SONDHEIM ARTSCAPE PRIZE: 2013 FINALISTS Exhibition

Finalists Gabriela Bulisova (Alexandria, VA); Larry Cook (Landover Hills, MD); Caitlin Cunningham (Baltimore, MD); Nate Larson (Baltimore, MD); Louie Palu (Washington, D.C.); and Dan Steinhilber (Washington, D.C.) were selected by an independent panel of jurors. Jurors  are Caroline Busta, a New York based art critic and associate editor at Artforum magazine; Jenny Schlenzka, associate curator at New York’s MoMA PS1; and Beverly Semmes, an internationally recognized mixed media artist and teacher at the Pratt Institute in New York. In its eighth year, the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is held in conjunction with the annual Artscape juried exhibition and is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.

The finalists and semifinalists exhibitions are presented in partnership with the Walters Art Museum and Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). An exhibition of the semifinalists’ work will be shown in MICA’s Decker and Meyerhoff galleries at 1303 West Mount Royal Avenue during Artscape weekend, Friday, July 19 through Sunday, July 21 and continues until Sunday, August 4.

The 2013 Sondheim Artscape Prize is made possible through the generous support of the Abell Foundation, Alex. Brown & Sons Charitable Foundation, Charlesmead Foundation, Ellen Sondheim Dankert, France-Merrick Foundation, Hecht-Levi Foundation, Legg Mason, M&T Bank Foundation, Henry & Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, John Sondheim and Whiting-Turner Contracting.

The exhibition and opening event at the Walters Art Museum have been generously supported by Cynthia Alderdice, the Talkin Fund of the Columbia Foundation, Time Group Investments, Rachel and Joseph Rabinowitz, The Zamoiski, Barber, Segal Family Foundation, and the Greif Family Fund. 

 Janet & Walter Sondheim

The Artscape prize is named in honor of Janet and Walter Sondheim, who were instrumental in creating the Baltimore City that exists today. Walter Sondheim, Jr. was one of Baltimore’s most important civic leaders for over 50 years. His accomplishments included oversight of the desegregation of the Baltimore City Public Schools in 1954, and championing the development of Charles Center and the Inner Harbor. He was active in civic and educational activities in the city and state, and served as senior advisor to the Greater Baltimore Committee until his death in February 2007.  Janet Sondheim danced with the pioneering Denishawn Dancers, a legendary dance troupe founded by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn.  Later, she turned to teaching and she spent 15 years at the Children’s Guild working with severely emotionally disturbed children. After retirement, she was a volunteer tutor at Highlandtown Elementary School. She married Walter in 1934, and they were together until her death in 1992.

Artscape

Artscape, America’s largest free arts festival, features more than 150 fine artists and craftspeople; visual art exhibitions, art cars, and live concerts on outdoor stages; a full schedule of performing arts including dance, opera, theater, film, and experimental music; family events such as hands-on projects, children’s entertainers, and street theater; and an international menu of food and beverages.

Images

Images of artworks from this exhibition are available online at https://thewalters.org/news/media-library/exhibitions/list.aspx?mid=93 .

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