NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Arts and Design announced the establishment of the Burke Prize, a new annual award that reinforces MAD’s commitment to celebrating the next generation of artists working in and advancing the disciplines that shaped the American studio craft movement. The announcement was made at MAD Ball 2017, the Museum’s annual fundraising gala, and was the highlight of the evening’s festivities.

The Burke Prize is an unrestricted $50,000 award made to a professional artist under the age of forty-five working in glass, fiber, clay, metals, or wood. Named for Marian and Russell Burke, two passionate collectors of craft and longtime supporters of MAD, the Burke Prize will be determined by an annual jury of professionals in the fields of art, craft, and design following an open application process.

“The Burke Prize will elevate the profile of craft, while encouraging talented young makers to pursue their artistic vision in full force,” said Marian Burke, who serves on the MAD Board of Trustees.

“We are so pleased to be inaugurating this landmark prize in our 60th Anniversary year,” said Board Chair Michele Cohen. “The Burke Prize reaffirms MAD as a champion for the future of craft and the next generation of artists.”

“The Burke Prize is an important and remarkable gift to American craft,” noted Shannon R. Stratton, MAD’s William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator. “Not only does an unrestricted prize of this magnitude help sustain an artist’s practice, allowing for experimentation and growth, but it also makes a powerful statement about the continued importance of these artistic disciplines.”

Jerome Chazen, Chairman Emeritus of MAD, said, “I have had the pleasure to serve on the board of MAD with Marian, and I extend my most heartfelt thanks to these two pioneering supporters of craft for their dedication in encouraging and fostering the next generation of great American makers.”

Eligible applicants are professional artists under the age of forty-five working in glass, fiber, clay, metals, or wood. Applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents, living or working within the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the US Virgin Islands.

The applications will be reviewed by a jury led by Shannon Stratton, Chief Curator at MAD, and available starting February 2018. The first winner of the Burke Prize will be announced in the fall of 2018.