UW–Madison lecturer and alumna Rebecca Kautz has been awarded the 2024 Forward Art Prize from the Women Artists Forward Fund. The prize, which includes $10,000 in unrestricted funds, is awarded to two women visual artists in Dane County annually who exhibit exceptional creativity and compelling potential in their work.
Kautz, who earned her MFA from the School of Education’s Art Department in 2018, is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice centers on painting and drawing. She also teaches life drawing courses at UW–Madison.
Kautz has previously been a finalist for the prize in 2022 and 2023, notes an article in the Capital Times.
Upon learning she had won the award this year, Kautz expressed: “I was excited and relieved, and thrilled that the work had been recognized. It’s the biggest award I’ve ever received for my work.”
Jurors highlighted Kautz’s figurative works for their vibrant, candy-colored palette and symbolic elements that explore themes of identity, belonging, and place. Her paintings often draw from her childhood memories, blending nostalgia with an edge of tension and unease.
The Forward Art Prize, founded in 2019, aims to address ongoing gender inequities in the art world by supporting women artists.
Kautz plans to use the funds for materials, framing costs, and potentially organizing an art exhibition in Sun Prairie — a community she feels “really needs more arts and culture.”
To learn more about Kautz’s work and the Forward Art Prize, read the full article in the Capital Times.