Steve Prince Receives Virginia Artist Relief Grant

On Tuesday, Virginia governor Ralph Northam and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts jointly announced that Steve A. Prince was among 40 Virginia artists granted $5,000 through a special program supporting visual artists impacted by COVID-19.  The Williamsburg-based Prince was selected from a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts pool of over 350 applicants.  Established in June, the Virginia Artist Relief Fellowship Program has distributed a total of $200,000 in funding to supplement the work of the state’s visual artists.

Black Art In America (BAIA) proudly recognizes Prince’s achievement and his consistent championing of the Black visual arts community. A New Orleans native, Prince is a mixed media artist, master printmaker, lecturer, educator, art evangelist, and the Director of Engagement and Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Muscarelle Museum at The College of William & Mary.  

“I am honored to be a recipient of the 2020 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) Grant, the funds will assist me in my continued pursuit of creating art that speaks to the soul of America.  In these challenging days with COVID-19 and racial tensions erupting across our nation, it is even more imperative for creatives and artists to be truth-sayers, and paint a vision of who we can be beyond the stultifying nature of the Pandemic and the racial issues embedded in our nation’s fabric.  Art is life.”  Steve A. Prince, artist