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Join us on May 31 to recognize the winners of the 2026 Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Awards (WVAAA). The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters is a proud co-sponsor of these biennial awards, honoring visual artists, educators, writers, advocates, and others who have made a significant contribution to our state's creative culture.
This year's awardees are:
Legacy Awards
Bruce Crownover (b. 1961)
Independent artist
Betsy Ritz Friebert (1910-1963)
Independent artist
Emerging Artist Award
Chad Alexander Matha
Independent artist
Educator (University) Award
Leslie Fedorchuk
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
Educators (K-12) Awards
Kelly Frederick Mizer
Wauwatosa East High School
Erin La Bonte
Kewaunee Middle and High Schools
Community Arts Advocate Award
Brandon Minga
House of RAD
Arts Writing Award
Rachel Hausmann Schall
Artdose
Exhibition Awards
A Creative Place: Art from Northeastern Wisconsin, 1940 to the Present (2025)
Curated by Annemarie Sawkins for the Trout Museum of Art, Appleton
Word Wall / Pared Palabras (2025)
Curated by Ck Ledesma Borrero with Xela Garcia and a team of seven co-curators for Walker's Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee
Nominations for the WVAA awards are solicited every two years through an open call.
Members of the 2026 selection committee included Jody Clowes, Pat Fredrick, Shannon Kupfer, Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Amy Moorefield, Rafael Salas, Christine Styles, Laurie Winters, and Della Wells.
Image: Bruce Crownover, Andrews Glacier II, 2017. Reductive woodcut, 18 x 24 in. From the limited edition artists’ book ROMO: The Last Glacier, published in 2017.
