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Wein Prize

The Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, one of the most significant awards given to individual artists in the United States today, was established in 2006 by jazz impresario, musician and philanthropist George Wein to honor his late wife, Joyce Alexander (1928–2005), a long-time Trustee of the Studio Museum and a woman whose life embodied a commitment to the power and possibilities of art and culture. Presented each year at the Studio Museum’s fall Gala, the award recognizes and honors the artistic achievements of an African-American artist who demonstrates great innovation, promise, and creativity.

Envisioned as an extension of the Studio Museum’s mission to support experimentation and excellence in contemporary art, the Prize includes an unrestricted monetary award of $50,000.

Wein Prize Recipients

Cy Gavin
2023
Robert Pruitt
2022
Caroline Kent
2021
Cauleen Smith
2020
Torkwase Dyson
2019
Diedrick Brackens
2018
Simone Leigh
2017
Derrick Adams
2016
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
2015
Samuel Levi Jones
2014
Gary Simmons
2013
Jennie C. Jones
2012
Leonardo Drew
2011
Leslie Hewitt
2010
Glenn Ligon
2009
Nadine Robinson
2008
Trenton Doyle Hancock
2007
Lorna Simpson
2006

About Joyce Alexander Wein

Throughout her life, Joyce was deeply involved with philanthropy and the arts. Together, Joyce and George created a brilliant collection of African-American art dating from the 1920s to the 1990s, which was shown publicly for the first time at the Boston University Art Gallery just a few months after Joyce’s passing. Journalist Ed Bradley noted in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition that to his friends Joyce and George, “Collecting art was like collecting knowledge.” But the arts were far from the only beneficiaries of Joyce’s generosity. She and George established the Joyce and George Wein Chair in African American Studies at Boston University (George’s alma mater). The Alexander Family Endowed Scholarship Fund at Simmons College, from which Joyce graduated as a chemistry major, followed. Joyce was also a founder of the New York Coalition of 100 Black Women.