Congratulations to Keith Kaziak of Madison, Wisconsin, who has been awarded the prestigious International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award for 2021. Keith is a graduate student of the sculpture area and recipient of the Interdisciplinary Artist Research Cohort fellowship program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The International Sculpture Center (ISC) established the annual “Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award” program in 1994 to recognize young sculptors and to encourage their continued commitment to the field. It was also designed to draw attention to the sculpture programs of the participating universities, colleges and art schools. The award program’s growing publicity resulted in an exceptional number of participating institutions; including 100 universities, colleges and art school sculpture programs for a nominated total of 234 students.
A distinguished panel made up of Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Artist, Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico; Chido Johnson, Artist, 2009 Kresge Fellow, and current section chair of Sculpture at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Detroit, MI; and Marin Sullivan, art historian, curator, consultant, and ISC Board Member, Chicago, IL deliberated over 570 images of sculptural works to select 11 award recipients and 6 honorable mentions. The selection of the recipients from a large pool of applicants, including international students, is a great accomplishment and testament to the artistic promise of the students’ work.
The 11 award recipients will participate in a group exhibition this fall. The artists’ work will be featured in the January/February 2022 issue of the International Sculpture Center’s award winning publication, Sculpture magazine as well as on the ISC’s website.
The International Sculpture Center (ISC) is a member-supported, nonprofit organization founded in 1960 to champion the creation and understanding of sculpture and its unique, vital contribution to society. Members include sculptors, collectors, patrons, architects, developers, journalists, curators, historians, critics, educators, foundries, galleries, and museums-anyone with an interest in and commitment to the field of sculpture. Please visit sculpture.org for further details.