RICHMOND, VA.- The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) announced today the establishment of the VMFA Aaron Siskind Award for excellence in contemporary photography. The VMFA Aaron Siskind Award is intended to celebrate Aaron Siskind’s (1903–1991) artistic legacy, support the practice of photography as a vital means of creative expression and honor the role that the Aaron Siskind Foundation played in supporting photographers through the Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, which was awarded for 28 years.

“Supporting artists is a core part of our mission, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is proud to fund photographic artists through the Aaron Siskind Award,” said museum Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “These extraordinary awards will provide recipients with transformative financial resources so that they can pursue major artistic projects.”

The VMFA Aaron Siskind Award for Photography is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents for whom photography is their primary vocation. The award is designed to support early- to mid-career artists as well as established photographers who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to their practice and who may not yet have received significant critical recognition.

The goal of VMFA’s Aaron Siskind Award for Photography is to provide material support that enables photographers to complete a meaningful body of work — whether the continuation or finalization of a photographic series, the development of an exhibition, monograph or book project, or another major creative endeavor.

Dr. Sarah Kennel, VMFA’s Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center, will administer the annual award program. “Aaron Siskind had a profound influence on generations of photographers — not only through his own groundbreaking work, but also as a passionate teacher and advocate for the medium in all its forms. With this new award, VMFA deepens its commitment to photography as a vital and evolving art form. We are honored to support bold, visionary photographers whose work resonates with the spirit of creativity and experimentation that Siskind embodied.”

VMFA invites entries from artists working with still photo-based media. Applications will be available online from July 1 through September 1, 2025.

Applications will be evaluated by a panel of distinguished professionals in the field of photography and the visual arts, including Kaitlin Booher, the William and Sarah Ross Soter Associate Curator of Photography at the Columbus Museum of Art; Brendan Embser, senior editor of Aperture; and Carla Williams, photographer, archivist and scholar.

The prize winners will be selected based on the strength of their artistic vision, the quality and significance of their proposed projects and their contribution to the broader field of contemporary photography. Two artists will each receive an unrestricted prize of $25,000 in support of their ongoing creative work. Awards will be announced in November 2025.