Temple University’s Tyler School of Art has announced plans to create the world’s largest prize solely for fine artists, an annual $150,000 juried award to be known as the Wolgin International Prize in the Fine Arts. The award is endowed with a $3.7 million gift from Jack L. Wolgin, a ninety-two-year-old former real estate developer who has previously given money for prizes in cinema and science.
The prize will be awarded exclusively to an individual fine artist who creates “work that transcends traditional boundaries and exemplifies the highest level of excellence in painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, ceramics, metals, glass, or fibers.” The Wolgin Prize will have no age or residency restrictions and will be awarded for work created at any point in the artist’s career.
The first competition will take place in the fall of 2009, followed by an exhibition at Tyler’s new seventy-five-million-dollar facility in North Philadelphia. An international panel will nominate artists eligible to compete; the complete eligibility and nomination process will be set by February. “Jack Wolgin has always been a bold thinker with a reputation for pushing boundaries,” said Therese Dolan, Tyler’s interim dean. “It’s very momentous for Philadelphia and especially for Temple University. For the art world, it’s an especially important signal in times of financial crisis that the arts are not undervalued.”
