2010 SECA Art Award

Since 1961, SECA (Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art) has honored over sixty Bay Area artists with its Art Award, which includes an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, an accompanying catalogue, and a cash prize. The cash prize was initiated in 1984 through the Robert Huston Fund, established in memory of Robert Huston, a former SECA member and dedicated supporter of young Bay Area artists. The SECA Art Award exhibition occurs biennially, with funding provided by SECA and the Museum.

The selection process is based on recommendations by members of the local art community, review of images, and studio visits by SECA Art Award curators and SECA members. Artists enter through recommendation from a Bay Area art professional or SECA member, including directors and curators of museums, nonprofit art spaces, galleries, independent curators, deans and instructors of art schools, noted artists, and past SECA Art Award winners. Recommended artists submit an application form and six representative images of their work. Approximately thirty artists are selected for studio visits, which occur on Saturdays in fall 2010 with groups of twenty-five to thirty people. Each visit lasts twenty to thirty minutes. Artists may show work in a studio, exhibition space, or installation site.

Following studio visits, SECA Art Award curators select one to four winners. Recipients will be announced in December 2010; the Art Award exhibition will open in fall 2011 on the occasion of SECA's 50th anniversary. To be eligible, an artist must be out of school, working independently in the Bay Area, and accessible for studio visits. Work in all media is considered, including photography, digital media, video, sound, and film installations. SECA members and SFMOMA employees are not eligible. The Award is intended for Bay Area artists working at a high level of artistic maturity whose work has not been accorded substantial recognition at the time of recommendation.