Curators’ Award for Insight and Innovation

Children work on assignments with paper and pen while seated in an art gallery.
Seventh graders invited by 2021 award winner Courtney Reid-Eaton to Myra Greene's "My White Friends" exhibit, 2014. Photo: Katie Hyde

While there are many awards that honor the contributions of documentary artists, there are very few that celebrate the curators who are instrumental in bringing documentary work into the public sphere, whether in physical or virtual spaces. This $10,000 prize honors either an established curator who has significantly contributed to the development and appreciation of the documentary arts across media or one who shows early promise and the potential to do so.

These curators recognize the connections between artists and the wider culture, and privilege community relationships, advance opportunities for collaboration and exchange, and innovate new, alternative methods for reaching audiences.

The award is meant to acknowledge curators’ contributions to the field ($5,000) and to provide a stipend to support the development of either an existing or imagined independent curatorial project ($5,000). The winner presents their work in a public talk at CDS the year following receipt of the award.

Recipients