LINCOLN, MASS.- deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum announced Massachusetts and New York based artist Tomashi Jackson as the recipient of the 24th Rappaport Prize. Established in 2000 and endowed in perpetuity in 2010, the Prize was established by The Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation to celebrate the achievements of contemporary artists in New England. An in-person lecture is planned for 2024.

Tomashi Jackson

Tomashi Jackson (b. 1980, Houston) is a multidisciplinary artist, and works across painting, textiles, sculpture, and video to place formal and material investigations in dialogue with recent histories of displacement and disenfranchisement of people of color. Her artwork often features compositions of exuberant color, bold geometries, and intricate layering of material. Jackson currently has a mid-career survey exhibition on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, curated by Miranda Lash and entitled Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe. Her 2021 commission and residency at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, resulted in the exhibition Tomashi Jackson: The Land Claim. Jackson has also had recent exhibitions at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Cambridge, MA, and at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY. She earned her BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and her MFA from MIT’s Program for Art, Culture and Technology. A committed educator, Jackson has taught at Harvard University, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, and Rhode Island School of Art among other schools and serves regularly as a curator of contemporary art exhibitions.

“Throughout my life I have been the beneficiary of arts-centered education pedagogies and institutions for the preservation and sharing of visual art in all its forms for the public good,” shares Jackson “I am deeply humbled to be acknowledged by committed caretakers of public spaces, arts, and humanities in New England as the 2023 Rappaport Prize recipient.”

“It is an honor to be counted among artists whom I have admired as creators, facilitators, and community members concerned with coming generations of visual artists. I am grateful to the Rappaport Prize and deCordova for folding me into its living art history with this incredible gift.”

“It is a great honor for us to recognize Tomashi Jackson for her talent, insight, and forward-thinking perspective,” says Jessica May, Vice President, Art and Exhibitions, The Trustees, and Artistic Director, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. “Her commitment to learning about who we are and where we come from, who we can be to each other, infuses her work. I can’t think of more important qualities for an artist of this moment.”

“Tomashi Jackson is a multidisciplinary artist and abstract painter whose work addresses the displacement and disenfranchisement of people of color”, notes Phyllis Rappaport, Chair of the Rappaport Foundation. “Through her art, she challenges our perspectives, perceptions, and politics. We are proud to welcome her into the Rappaport community as the 24th recipient of the Rappaport Prize.”