“Mindy Rose Schwartz has been a vital yet under-recognized presence in Chicago’s art scene since the 1990s. Her sculptures and installations blur the boundaries between fine art and craft, combining humor, pathos, and critical reflection to reveal the emotional and cultural resonance of everyday materials. At a pivotal moment—where the political and personal are fully integrated into her work—Schwartz is poised for broader recognition. This award would honor both the rigor of her practice and her enduring impact on Chicago’s contemporary art landscape.” – juror, Ionit Behar, Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, MCA Chicago

“Mindy Rose Schwartz gives form to feeling. With humor, exceptional craftsmanship and a refined eye, Schwartz creates unforgettable artworks that probe indescribable emotions. Her practice both reflects and refracts trends in popular culture and domestic traditions, with an eye toward the complex wonder of the natural world. She is one-of-a-kind, and her influence on subsequent generations of artists is beginning to be acutely felt.” – juror Daniel Merritt, Chief Curator, Aspen Art Museum

Mindy Rose Schwartz is a sculptor and installation artist whose work draws on personal memory and craft traditions to conjure objects that feel both familiar and uncanny. She is interested in ways the intended significance or function of mass-produced objects can oscillate in our perception being sites of fear or control as well as sentiment, longing, and pleasure. Her work has dealt with processing loss, creating objects as memorials, and vehicles for affective transformation.

Mindy Rose Schwartz lives and works in Chicago. She holds an MFA in studio arts from the University of Illinois in Chicago and has an upcoming solo show at M. LeBlanc Gallery in Chicago. Solo exhibitions of her work have been featured at Sophie Tappeiner in Vienna (2025), Interstate Projects in New York (2021), Et. Al. Gallery in San Francisco (2020), Queer Thoughts at Balice Hertling in Paris (2017), Queer Thoughts in New York (2017), and at Atlanta Contemporary (2017). Selected group exhibitions include: Artists Space in New York City, US (2025), King’s Leap in New York City (2024),Tatjana Pieters Gallery in Ghent, BE (2021), The Renaissance Society in Chicago, US (2002), Room E-10 27 in Berlin, DE (2018), Carlos Ishikawa in London, UK (2018), Cooper Cole in Toronto, CA (2017), Alter Space in Los Angeles, US (2016), Galerie Hussenot in Paris, FR (2015) and Arcadia Missa, UK (2015). She was a recipient of the Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Foundation, Meier Achievement Award (2012), a 3Arts Fellowship at Ragdale Residency (2010).