From the Studio Museum in Harlem:
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the staff of the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Joyce and George Wein Foundation, we are pleased to present Kenturah Davis as this year's Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize recipient.
The Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize was established in 2006 by jazz impresario, musician, and philanthropist George Wein (1925-2021), in memory of his wife Joyce (1928-2005), a dedicated Trustee of the Studio Museum in Harlem. The Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize honors the legacy of a woman whose life embodied a commitment to the power and possibilities of art and culture.
Throughout her life, Joyce was deeply involved with philanthropy and the arts. Together, Joyce and George created a brilliant collection of African American art dating from the 1920s to the 1990, which was shown publicly for the first time at Boston University Art Gallery (George’s alma mater) just a few months after Joyce’s passing. Journalist Ed Bradley noted in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition that to his friends Joyce and George, “collecting art was like collecting knowledge.” But the arts were far from the only beneficiaries of Joyce’s generosity: she and George established the Joyce and George Wein Chair in African American Studies at Boston University. The Alexander Family Endowed Scholarship Fund at Simmons College, from which Joyce graduated as a chemistry major, was soon to follow. Joyce was also a founder of the New York Coalition of 100 Black Women.
In keeping with Joyce’s support for living artists, the Joyce Alexander Wein Prize recognizes the artistic achievements of a Black artist who demonstrates great innovation, promise, and creativity.
Over the last 19 years the prize has been awarded to a distinguished group of artists:
2024 Toyin Ojih Odutola
2023 Cy Gavin
2022 Robert A. Pruitt
2021 Caroline Kent
2020 Cauleen Smith
2019 Torkwase Dyson
2018 Diedrick Brackens
2017 Simone Leigh
2016 Derrick Adams
2015 Njideka Akunyili Crosby
2014 Samuel Levi Jones
2013 Gary Simmons
2012 Jennie C. Jones
2011 Leonardo Drew
2010 Leslie Hewitt
2009 Glenn Ligon
2008 Nadine Robinson
2007 Trenton Doyle Hancock
2006 Lorna Simpson
The award was announced during the program of the annual Studio Museum gala, on Monday, October 27th 2025 in New York City, in advance of the grand opening of the new Studio Museum building, designed by Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson.
