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"Rising Voices: The Bennett Prize for Women Figurative Realist Painters" features 29 works by 10 women artists presenting a vibrant array of subjects and themes. The paintings are by finalists for the inaugural award and exhibition of The Bennett Prize, which awards $50,000 biennially to a woman painter whose principal focus is figurative painting. These 10 artists were chosen from a field of 647 entrants from across the United States. Their paintings were selected for technical excellence, emotive and conceptually expressive qualities, and for the ability of the artists to tell stories that address the timeless and contemporary issues facing not only women, but society as a whole. The Bennett Prize seeks to encourage the pursuit of figurative realism by women painters and provides support over two years to a painter whose work demonstrates excellence in the genre. The Bennett Prize is a collaboration with founders Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine M. Schmidt, The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Muskegon Museum of Art. The founders and the organizers of The Bennett Prize hope that it will elevate women in the visual arts and inspire a new generation of artists to make representational paintings that are culturally and critically relevant and engaging.

Image credit: Aberration, by Aneka Ingold, mixed media on vinyl, 2015, 84 x 72 inches. Courtesy of RJD Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY.