The 2024 Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize, which awards a $30,000 fellowship to assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the greater Baltimore region, opens Wednesday, July 17 with a finalists’ exhibition at the Walters Art Museum.

The work of the three finalists—weaver Hellen Ascoli, mixed-media artist Amy Boone-McCreesh, and ceramicist Sam Mack—will be on view through Sunday, September 8. The winner of the 2024 Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize, chosen by this year’s jurors, will be announced during a special reception and award ceremony at the museum on Thursday, August 22. Each finalist will also receive a $2,500 M&T Bank Finalist Award, which is designed, in part, to assist them in preparing for the exhibition. One finalist will receive a studio residency at the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower.

Jurors for the 2024 competition are artist, scholar, and poet Noel W. Anderson; curator, educator, and historian Connie H. Choi; and curator, historian, and lecturer Aaron Levi Garvey.

The Sondheim Art Prize is named in honor of Janet & Walter Sondheim, both of whom were instrumental in furthering arts and culture in Baltimore City. Janet Sondheim danced with the pioneering Denishawn Dancers, a legendary dance troupe founded by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Walter Sondheim, Jr. was one of Baltimore’s most important civic leaders for over 50 years. He was deeply involved in the development of Charles Center and the Inner Harbor and continued to be civically active until his death in 2007, serving as the senior advisor to the Greater Baltimore Committee.

This year marks the 19th edition of the Sondheim Art Prize, one of the region’s most prestigious honors. The $30,000 prize is awarded annually to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Baltimore region.