SECAC Award for Curatorial Excellence

Nomination period opens April 1, 2025.

Awarded in recognition of a curator whose design, publication, and/or community engagement for an exhibition (within the last two years) is considered exemplary. 

To nominate yourself or a colleague for the SECAC Award for Curatorial Excellence, send a letter of nomination (written by yourself or a colleague) and the nominee’s CV to Al Denyer at a.denyer@utah.edu by August 1, 2025; all additional supporting materials are due by August 1, 2025 (see details below). The nominee's SECAC membership status should be current at the time of nomination.

To nominate a group of collaborators, an organization, or an institution, the nominator should send a letter of nomination specifying the intended award nominee(s) and the intended award to Al Denyer at a.denyer@utah.edu by August 1, 2025; all supporting materials are due by August 1, 2025 (see details below). In the case of a collaborating group or organization, at least one person must be a current SECAC member; a CV for this individual should accompany the nomination letter. In the case of an institution, the institution must be a current SECAC institutional member at the time of nomination.

The nominator is responsible for the delivery of one of the nominated publications to Al Denyer. This publication, and all supporting materials, will be circulated among the SECAC Awards Committee members.

Supporting materials should include the nominee’s CV, Statement of Curatorial Philosophy, and documentation of the nominated exhibition (documentation can include an exhibition summary, exhibition installation documentation, exhibition catalog, and/or reviews). These materials may be provided by either the nominator or the nominee, however, all materials are to be submitted together. 

Nomination letters and supporting materials may be submitted via email attachment, Google Drive, or Dropbox to Al Denyer at a.denyer@utah.edu. 

For questions, contact Al Denyer at a.denyer@utah.edu.

Past Recipients

The SECAC Award for Curatorial Excellence replaces the SECAC Award for Outstanding Exhibition and Catalogue of Historical Materials and the SECAC Award for Outstanding Exhibition and Catalogue of Contemporary Materials.

2024 - Taína Caragol, Kate Clarke Lemay and Carolina Maestre, 1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and 
        Revisions, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

 Recipients of the SECAC Award for Outstanding Exhibition and Catalogue of Historical Materials, 1996-2023

        2023 - Matthew Kolodziej, Synapse 15: Intersections of Art and Science (2022) at the University
        of Akron
        2022 - Jonathan Frederick Walz and Seth Feman, The Columbus Museum, Alma W. Thomas:
        Everything is Beautiful
    2021 - Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Extra Ordinary: Magic, 
        Mystery and Imagination in American Realism     
2019 - Georgia Museum of Art, Crafting History:  Textiles, Metals, and Ceramics at the
        University of Georgia
2018 - Keri Watson, In the Eyes of the Hungry: Florida’s Changing Landscape, UCF Art
        Gallery
2017 - Ned Irvine, Art From Flour: Barrel to Bag, Cameron Art Museum
2016 - Georgia Museum of Art, Icon of Modernism: Representing the Brooklyn Bridge,
        1883–1950
2016 - The Georgia Museum of Art, El Taller de Gráfica Popular: Vida Y Arte
2013 - Keri Watson, Silhouettes of Courage: Marching to Equality, produced in
        collaboration with students at Auburn University Montgomery
2011 - University Art Galleries at the State University of New Mexico, Modern
        Design/Folk Art, essay by Preston Thayer
2011 - Curtis R. Harley Art Gallery at the University of South Carolina Upstate, Andy
        Warhol: University of South Carolina Upstate Collection: Gift of the Andy Warhol
        Foundation, essays by Catherine Zuromskis, Rachel Snow, and Heather Shockey
2011 - Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina Greensboro,
        Weatherspoon Art Museum: 70 Years of Collecting, essay by Nancy M. Doll
2010 - Elizabeth Meredith Dowling, Lisa M Thomason, and the Georgia Institute of
        Technology, One Hundred Years of Architectural Education: 1908-2008, Georgia Tech
2009 - The Georgia Museum of Art and Paul Manoguerra, author, The American
        Scene on Paper: Prints and Drawings from the Schoen Collection
2008 - Betsy Fahlman, Chimneys and Towers: Charles Demuth's Late Pantings of
         Lancaster
2007 - Ashley Callahan, Modern Threads: Fashion and Art by Mariska Karasz, 
        Georgia Museum of Art
2006 - Erika Lee Doss, editor, Coming Home: American Paintings from the Schoen
        Collection
2006 - Donald Schrader & Preston Thayer, An Expanding Universe: Makers and
        Viewers of 17th-Century Prints, Radford University Art Museum
2004 - Roberta Smith Favis, Stetson University
2000 - Cheekwood Museum of Art
1999 - William Eiland, Georgia Museum of Art
1997 - James P.W. Thompson, Western Carolina University
1996 - Pamela Simpson, Washington and Lee University

Recipients of the SECAC Award for Outstanding Exhibition and Catalogue of Contemporary Materials, 2003-2021

2021 - Shawnya Harris, Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Emma Amos: Color Odyssey
2020 - Queer Abstraction by Jared Ledesma, Des Moines Art Center
2019 - Clinton Hill by William U. Eiland, Georgia Museum of Art
2018 - Vesna Pavlović’s Lost Art, Hanes Art Gallery, Wake Forest University
2017 - Georgia Museum of Art for Contemporary Paper in Profile: Mixografia and Taller de Grafico Mexicana
2015 - Beyond the Grid/Into the Sublime, A New View of Minimalism, Columbus State Museum, Georgia, 2014. Hannah Israel and Michele McCrillis.
2014 - Ron Meyers: A Potter's Menagerie, Arkansas Arts Center, 2013, Co-curated by Stephen Driver and Brian Lange.
2012 - Papercuts: The Contemporary Art of Papercutting, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2012. Reni Gower, curator. Essay by Teresa Bramlette Reeves.
2011 - Wichita Museum of Art, Michael Aurbach: The Secrecy Series: Selected Works. Essay by Dorothy Joiner.
2010 - Paul Goldberger and Robert M. Craig, John Portman: Art and Architecture, 2009, High Museum of Art; University of Georgia Press, 2009.
2009 - University of Georgia, and editors Isabelle Wallace and Nora Wendl, Contemporary Art at the Dodd: Paul Pfeiffer.
2008 - Kevin Concannon, Yoko Ono: Imagine Peace Featuring John and Yoko's Year of Peace.
2008 - Joseph Mella, Carlos Jauregui and Edward Fishers (editors), Of Rage and Redemption: The Art of Oswadso Guayasamín.
2007 - Dennis Harper and Paul Manoguerra, Weaving His Art on Golden Looms: Paintings and Drawings by Art Rosenbaum, Georgia Museum of Art, 2007, William U. Eiland, Director.
2006 - Sam Yates & Fred Moffat (with design by Martha C. Shepp), Mysterious Pleasures: The Art of F. Clark Stewart.
2005 - Reni Gower, Sally Bowring, & Heather M. Harvey, Virginia Commonwealth University.
2004 - Halsey Gallery, College of Charleston.
2003 - Reni Gower & Heather Harvey, Virginia Commonwealth University