2026 Jurors
Mary L. Coyne is a curator and writer specializing in performance and contemporary research practices. She is based in Chicago where she is Director at PATRON Gallery. Coyne formerly held curatorial and production positions at the Art Institute Chicago and the Walker Art Center. In 2014, she operated Pseudo Empire, a non-commercial project space in Brooklyn and has curated group exhibitions in the US and internationally. Coyne’s writing has appeared in AfterImage, Artpulse, Art Journal, Droste Effect, The Journal for Curatorial Studies, L'Officiel Art Italia, Mousse, and Museum and Curatorial Studies Review, among other publications. Coyne holds a MA in Art (Curatorial Studies) from California State University, Long Beach and a BA in Art History from the University of Southern California..
Chanelle Lacy is a curator, cultural producer and Reiki Master. Passionate about bringing ambitious, rigorous, and challenging projects to life, Lacy works closely with artists both emerging and established to expand their creative practices, as well as their art historical canon at large. Her dedication to art and her efforts to elevate diverse and underrepresented voices establish her as a true champion of the arts. Lacy is Head of Programming, Partnerships, and Membership at GERTIE, where she is at the helm of city-wide activations such as Chicago Exhibition Weekend (CXW). Lacy is also the founder of On Ancestral Wings, a creative healing platform that seeks to remind marginalized communities of their innate power through energetic modalities and inner exploration.
Jack Schneider is Assistant Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago where he has organized numerous exhibitions including City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago (2025-26), Arthur Jafa: Works from the MCA Collection (2024-25), Atrium Project: Lotus Kang (2023-24), and Water After All (2019–20). Schneider is also Co-Director of Prairie, an independent exhibition space he founded in 2017 that focuses on emerging and experimental artists. At Prairie, Schneider has organized early career exhibitions with artists including ektor garcia, Ficus Interfaith, Isabelle Frances McGuire, The Institute of Queer Ecology, and Max Guy, among others. Schneider holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MA in Art History from the University of Chicago.
2026 Nomination Committee
Mariela Acuna | Curator
Alex Benjamin | Administrator
Meghan Borah | Artist
Sebastian Bruno-Harris | Artist
Alex Chitty | Artist
Jessica Cochran | Administrator
Jadine Collingwood | Curator
Sibylle Friche | Gallerist
Maria Gaspar | Artist
Kira Dominguez Hultgren | Artist
Caroline Kent | Artist
Mariana Noreña G | Artist
Lola Ayisha Ogbara | Artist
B. Ingrid Olson | Artist
Fawn Penn | Gallerist
Haynes Riley | Gallerist
Hope Wang | Artist
Anne Wilson | Artist
More about the Nomination Committee:
The Nomination Committee is made up of a range of leaders in the visual arts field, specifically artists and art administrators who have extensive experience working closely with Chicago visual artists. The Nomination Committee contains at least 50% new committee members each year to ensure a continually-changing applicant pool and fresh perspectives. Committee members cannot nominate more than two years consecutively.