Patrons of the arts and founders of the Bennett Prize, Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt.

Established by art collectors Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt in 2018, and now in its fourth cycle, the prize is designed to propel the careers of women artists and help them reach their full creative potential. “As in the prior three cycles, we’ve been very fortunate to have a diverse group of artists enter the competition,” says Schmidt. “The work is never predictable [and] we continue to be struck by the extent to which changes in society are reflected in the work. Our society’s cultural values and experiences continue to change at a rapid pace. This group of finalists adeptly captured our new world in powerful ways that creatively impact the viewer. Figures are just the starting point for scenarios and depictions that reflect the developments in our society. In this sense, figuration is a mechanism or a tool and not an end in itself.”

Olivia Chigas, Sloppy Joe Xanadu, 2022, oil on canvas, 31 x 24"

Olivia Chigas, New York, NY
Learning she was a finalist for the Bennett Prize has been both a humbling and validating experience for Olivia Chigas. “It has already forced me to think more concretely about the immediate future of my art practice and how I see it developing, which has been really exciting,” says Chigas. “It has allowed me to revisit a more ambitious, multimedia idea that has been percolating in the back of my head for many years.” Informed by the processes of Eric Fischl’s Krefeld Project, Chigas is envisioning a body of work that will be a fictionalized retelling of her experience working in a blue-chip gallery involving personal drama, theft and—potentially—a smashed Jeff Koons piece.

Nimah Gobir, Lollipops, 2024, oil paint, fabric and embroidery thread on canvas, 36 x 39"

Nimah Gobir, Oakland, CA
Nimah Gobir’s accomplishments as an artist have largely been concentrated in the San Franciso Bay Area, and being a finalist for the Bennett Prize is an opportunity to expand her reach. “Even if I don’t win, being a finalist signals that I’m on the right path,” says Gobir. “It’s also a sign that my work is reaching a broader, more national audience—something I’m especially excited about.” Gobirs’ work explores the layers of memory, often through depictions of Black interior lives, that feel both intimate and powerful. Lollipops depicts the artist’s sister and cousins in front of a couch, a recurring symbol in her work. “Couches in my pieces represent both time and place, helping ground the viewer in a domestic space,” she says. “I also use materials like hand-stitched embroidery and household textiles to soften the canvas and give the work a more personal, relatable texture that invites viewers to engage with it as they would with a home.” 

Audrey Rodriguez, Chalupas Poblanas El Tlecuile, 2023, oil on canvas, 36 x 48"

Audrey Rodriguez, Brooklyn, NY
“It’s a moment where everything feels like it’s come together—the lessons, the challenges, the hard work…,” says Audrey Rodriguez about being named a finalist. “It makes me feel like I’m on the right path, and it’s given me a boost of confidence to keep pushing forward, knowing that my voice has a place in this larger conversation.” Chalupas Poblanas El Tlecuile is part of Rodriguez’s ongoing work that honors the everyday resilience of New York City street vendors. 

Ambrin Ling, To Consume and Be Consumed, 2022, gouache, watercolor, charcoal and white conte on paper, 36 x 36"

Ambrin Ling, Salem, OR
“My own work [asks] what it means to be human when certain people are denied privacy, agency and subjectivity,” says finalist Ambrin Ling, adding that she would apply the award to a national project featuring diverse models seeking a creative platform to express their notions of belonging and identity. “The social aspect of my painting project is paramount, so rather than conserving these resources for myself, I would use them to foster a broader community,” she says. To Consume and Be Consumed is a self-portrait that explores her own struggles with identity. “This piece reflects my rumination on being a third-generation immigrant, a mixed-race person whose racial and cultural identities are often a source of confusion, and a queer woman who does not wholly consider herself a homemaker and caretaker of others, or a purely self-determined individual.”

Abbey Rosko, Steve and Peter, 2022, oil on canvas, 24 x 20"

Abbey Rosko, New Tripoli, PA
“[Having] been chosen as a finalist for the Bennett Prize marks a significant moment in my artistic career, because I am being recognized by an organization that supports and acclaims figurative realist painters,” says Abbey Rosko. Her ambition is to create vignettes of peoples’ everyday lives, and present them like stills from a movie. “My aim is ever-present in Steve and Peter, in which two male figures are seated in a booth with the insinuation of beer bottles piling in front of them,” she says. “My paintings evoke smells and sounds, and a vague story comes together in the viewers’ imagination, and a wish to recover a conclusion for the characters in my paintings.”

Jane Philips, Stormfront (Currents and Cattails), 2024, oil on canvas, 90 x 144"

Jane Philips, Brooklyn, NY
Making the top 10 finalists of the Bennett Prize was one of Jane Philips’ post-graduate school goals. “This is the first time I’ve qualified for a national prize,” she says. “After graduating with an MFA in 2023, I received a yearlong fellowship, then went straight into my first residency, and now I’m a Bennett finalist! It’s great to keep up the momentum and feel recognition amongst my peers and professionals in my field.” Should she win, a large portion of the monetary award would go to acquiring studio space big enough to accommodate her vision—and large-scale paintings. “I like to say I’m in my ‘grass era’ right now,” says the artist, referencing her painting Stormfront, one of five completed paintings in an ongoing series of women in fields, which touch upon themes of emotion and women’s bodies in a similar style and motif. 

Nicole Santiago, Shifting Celebrations, 2018, oil on linen, 62 x 48"

Nicole M. Santiago, Williamsburg, VA
“Being a finalist in this year’s Bennett Prize is a personal milestone and a launchpad for growth, artistic contribution and future opportunities,” reflects artist Nicole Santiago, adding that the prize would allow her what she needs most—more time in the studio. “One of my primary goals is to create a new body of large-scale narrative works that delve deeper into semi-autobiographical yet universal storylines of the societal roles and expectations of women. My works are rooted in storytelling, using the human form to explore female roles and societal rites of passage.” Shifting Celebrations is about the exhaustion and joy that comes with motherhood. “This piece showcases my interest in capturing a layered narrative with psychological nuance without revealing the whole story. I want to challenge the passivity of the viewer by generating more questions than answers and, as such, creating flexible, evolving narratives.”

Amy Werntz, Carlyla, 2024, oil on panel, 24 x 18"

Amy Werntz, Dallas, TX
This is the second time Amy Werntz has been a finalist for the Bennett Prize. Two years ago the artist had to give up her studio space and, if she wins this time around, she would apply the winnings to converting her garage into a new studio where she will have more room to expand the ideas in her current work. Caryla is emblematic of the work Werntz has been creating over the past eight years, which has focused on capturing ordinary moments in the everyday lives of the older generations. “I look for moments that express some sort of universal emotion where people can see something of themselves or a friend or loved one, and challenge the view so often held in our society of youth being the representation of beauty,” she explains. “I paint them in a realist style and a little smaller than life size to force the viewer to get in close and have a more intimate interaction with the subject.”

Helena Wurzel, Long Day Dreams, 2020, oil on canvas, 54 x 61”

Helena Wurzel, Cambridge, MA
“I want to expand my career and the Bennett Prize provides national visibility and curatorial support,” says finalist Helena Wurzel. She intends to use the funds towards studio rent, art materials and other professional expenses so that she can continue to paint. She is currently developing a body of work that explores her life as a middle-aged woman and, winning the prize would allow her to focus on nurturing it. “I have been painting images of motherhood, my aging parents, household chores and the stuff of family life,” says Wurzel. “I focus on scenes from my home and neighborhood that set the stage for narratives about daily life that incorporate my family and friends. Long Day Dreams depicts my family in a moment of play and ease.” 

Rei Xiao, It was Dark Inside the Wolf, 2022, oil on canvas, 48 x 60"

Rei Xiao, Brooklyn, NY
“This marks a significant milestone in my career, as it’s my first opportunity to exhibit my work in a traveling museum exhibition and a step toward an award that could transform my practice,” says Rei Xiao, who recently secured an artist visa that winning the prize could help her extend. “My subject matter often explores alienation, loneliness and hybridity, themes that permeate my painting It was Dark Inside the Wolf,” she explains. “The work reflects my experience living with my mom and her 15 foster cats during high school in Istanbul—how her apartment invaded my space and shaped those years before college. A maternal figure serving kibbles to life-sized cats and a girl humorously depict what our lives looked like from my perspective back then. It’s an attempt to reconcile that period and my complex relationship with my mother.”