Research Thursdays - Carol Prusa Awarded 2020 Manifest Prize

Image Aboce: Carol Prusa, Domus, Silverpoint, acrylic on elliptical acrylic dome, 48 x 24 x 12 inches, 2011

Carol Prusa, Professor of Painting and Drawing in the Department of Visual Arts and Art History, was selected for the 2020 Manifest Prize, which is presented by the Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. The prize comes with a $5000 award and solo exhibition, which opened on Friday, Dec. 11 at the gallery. This is the 11th annual Manifest Prize, which is chosen by 20 reviewers from across the United States and Canada. The prize was created to “reward, showcase, celebrate, and document the most exceptional artwork being made today,” according to the organizers.

Prusa is known for her meticulous silverpoint technique and use of unexpected materials from sculpted resin and fiberglass to metal leaf and LED lights. In the 2015 catalogue essay for the National Gallery exhibition Drawing in Silver and Gold: Leonardo to Jasper Johns, Bruce Weber called Carol Prusa “one of the most innovative artists working in metalpoint today.” 

“In my work I desire to create a generative space that tethers us as one in the vastness of the cosmos and the voids between, communicating what cannot be seen but felt – the vibrations that are part of us all, echoes from billions of years ago.”

  – Carol Prusa, Professor,
Visual Arts and Art History

Prusa lives and works in South Florida and exhibits nationally and internationally. Her work is included in excellent public and private collections, including the Perez Art Museum (Miami), The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), Telfair Art Museum (Savannah), the Hunter Museum of American Art (Chattanooga) and the Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz Collection.

Prusa had a solo exhibition at the Boca Museum in 2019 and exhibited in the 2015 Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters (NYC), nominated by Judy Pfaff. She did a three-month fully funded residency at the prestigious Kohler Artist in Industry among other artist residencies. Prusa received the 2017 SECAC Artistic Achievement Award. She was previously awarded a Brown University Howard Foundation Fellowship, State of Florida Fellowships and South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowships. She also regularly lectures about her work at such venues as Carnegie-Mellon University (Pittsburgh), University of Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa), and Parsons School of Art and Design (NYC).

(Printable Version) 

Image above: Artwork by Carol Prusa selected for the 2020 Manifest Prize:

Many Moons (Selene, Totality, Diamond Ring, Between Night and Day, Crescent)

Silverpoint, acrylic on acrylic circles ranging from 30-60 inches in diameter

2018-2020