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Portland artist Marie Watt is the recipient of a $250,000 Heinz Award for the Arts, according to the Heinz Family Foundation.
Watt is an interdisciplinary artist who works in printmaking, textiles and sculpture. She is well known for her Blanket Stories sculpture series, which comprises towering structures of folded blankets donated to the artist by local communities. Watt is a member of the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nation of Indians and has German-Scot ancestry.
“It is an incredible honor to be included in this group of awardees,” Watt wrote on social media. “Reading about their accomplishments, backgrounds, passions, research, and achievements is breathtaking. It all feels very surreal to be acknowledged in the company of these visionary thinkers.”
Watt creates art in her Southeast Portland studio. She counts among her artistic inspirations the huge radio tower in the West Hills once known as the KGON Tower that she sees out her window from her studio. Last year, she created a 10-foot neon radio tower piece called Transformer in response.
“We honor Marie for her thought-provoking work that graciously allows us entry to Indigenous traditions, culture and histories and to the application of that collective wisdom to contemporary life,” said Teresa Heinz, chair of the Heinz Family Foundation, in a statement. “Marie’s art brings us joy, and her welcoming practice of engaging the community is a model and inspiration for creating lasting intergenerational connections.”
The other artist who received a 30th annual Heinz Award this year is painter Jennifer Packer of New York City.
Portlanders can see a solo exhibition of Marie Watt’s work right now at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University, including 73 of Watt’s prints, sculptures and textiles. Watt will also speak about her work with Jordan Schnitzer, who has called her “one of the most important American artists of our time,” at an event Sept. 18.
GO: Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt at The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU, 1855 SW Broadway, 503-725-8013, pdx.edu/museum-of-art. 11 am-5 pm Tuesday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday; 11 am-7 pm Thursday, through Dec. 6.
GO: Conversation with Marie Watt and Jordan Schnitzer at Portland State University’s Lincoln Hall, Room 75, 1620 SW Park Ave., 503-725-8013, pdx.edu/art-design/events/storywork-prints-marie-watt-collections-jordan-d-schnitzer-and-his-family-foundation. 4 pm Thursday, Sept. 18; reception to follow at the museum. Free.
