Bakhita Prize for the Visual Arts
Icon of St. Josephine Bakhita by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM
We at the Catholic Artist Connection are thrilled to share the announcement of the Bakhita Prize for the Visual Arts, sponsored by Dappled Things.
Dappled Things, a Catholic magazine for arts and culture, has announced their inaugural Bakhita Prize for the Visual Arts as a response to the death of George Floyd and the centuries-long myopia of white Catholic culture to the plight of our Black brothers and sisters.
The prize will be awarded at the end of the summer. The following is an excerpt from Dappled Things’ announcement.
Like many others, we are asking ourselves questions of how to respond to violence and the violation of human dignity, including persistent racial violence that has been directed especially against the black community.
Dappled Things is calling on visual artists to help us see more clearly: to help us honor and highlight the infinite worth inherent within each victim of racial violence. To do so, we are establishing the Bakhita Prize for the Visual Arts, which will be awarded for a photograph, painting, illustration, or sculpture that helps us better see the humanity and God-given worth of victims of racial violence. Saint Josephine Bakhita, after whom the prize is named, was a Sudanese slave brutalized by her captors, who later became a religious sister renowned for her joyfulness, gentleness, and charity.
Today Josephine Bakhita is the patroness of Sudan and survivors of human trafficking.
The Bakhita Prize will pay $1000 to the winner and $250 to the runner-up.
The two winning pieces, plus up to eight honorable mentions, will be published in Dappled Things, and the artists of all published pieces will also receive a year’s subscription to the journal and the opportunity to participate in potential exhibitions that may be organized once social-distancing restrictions no longer apply.
Deadline for submission: August 31, 2020 | Winners announced: September 30, 2020
Click here to submit your work. For more information, visit Dappled Things’ website.
