Cecilia Vicuña and Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, 2019 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts

On May 13, in New York, Latin American artists Cecilia Vicuña (Chile, 1947) and Beatriz Santiago Muñoz (Puerto Rico, 1972) were granted the 2019 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts in the categories of Visual Arts and Film and Video respectively. The award recognizes artists working in the field of the visual arts, film and video, music, theatre, and dance. The other winners are: Meshell Ndegeocello (Germany, 1968), in Music; and Lloyd Suh (Korea/US), in Theatre. The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts is granted by the Herb Alpert Foundation and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) to "support artists respected for their creativity, ingenuity, and bodies of work, at a moment in their lives when they are poised to propel their art in new and unpredictable directions." Likewise, "It recognizes experimenters who are making something that matters within and beyond their fields." Known for her "Quipus" and "Palabrarmas," Cecilia Vicuña was selected for her unwavering feminism, daring explorations, and uncompromising poetic in response to the current political, social, and ecological realities. Her work often approaches themes concerning the destruction of the environment, human rights, and cultural homogenization. The jury was formed by Bill Arning, former director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston; Macela Guerrero, curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; and Hamza Walker, director of LAXART in Los Angeles. Beatriz Santiago Muñoz was selected for a body of poetic work approached through video art that imagines a decolonized Caribbean and reassesses historic, ethnographic, and sacred events. Santiago Muñoz has organized seminars and walks for filmmakers, theorists, and curators, among others, interested in learning about the geography and history of Puerto Rico, as well as the emerging artistic practices being developed on the island. The jury in this category was formed by Pablo de Ocampo, exhibitions curator of the Western Front in Vancouver; Bill Morrison, Herb Alpert Award Artist, New York; and Diana Nawi, independent curator in Los Angeles. The award consists of a purse of US$ 75,000.00 and a one-week residency at CalArts, one of the most respected and internationally renowned institutions in its field.