Philadelphia, PA — Moore College of Art & Design (Moore) will celebrate its 20th Visionary Woman Awards in 2022 with honorees Joyce J. Scott, a quilter, sculptor and painter, and interdisciplinary artist Janet Biggs, a 1981 graduate of Moore. The awards will be presented during Moore’s annual fundraising gala on October 19, 2022 from 5:30–9 pm at the College, located on 1916 Race Street, on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
The annual fundraising gala honors outstanding women leaders in art and design during an evening ceremony and cocktail reception. Proceeds raised go to scholarships for Moore's prestigious Visionary Honors Program, which supports a select group of undergraduate students who demonstrate academic excellence and leadership potential, providing them with tools and real-world skills to hone their talents and to pursue successful careers in the art and design fields.
"As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Visionary Woman Awards, we're also reflecting upon the great success of this fundraising effort and the widespread impact it has had on our community," said Cathy Young, the new president of Moore College of Art & Design. "Through this esteemed program, we have had the privilege of recognizing some of the best and brightest individuals in the arts—including our inspiring 2022 honorees Joyce J. Scott and Janet Biggs, a Moore alum—while opening doors to mentorship, inspiration, support and opportunity for our students. As I settle into my new role as president of Moore, I am honored to continue to honor and build upon the legacy of the Visionary Woman Awards."
The event will include an exhibition of outstanding work by the honorees during a cocktail reception. Following the reception, both Biggs and Scott will partake in an artist roundtable discussion, moderated by Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance President and CEO Patricia Wilson Aden. Dessert and conversation in The Galleries will conclude the night. The 2022 Visionary Woman Awards will be the kickoff event of a larger, five-day inaugural celebration of Cathy Young’s, Moore’s eleventh president, who began her tenure on June 30.
To register for this event and to learn more about Moore’s Visionary Honors scholarship program, as well as the 2022 honorees, please visit moore.edu/vwa.
Joyce J. Scott
A versatile artist from Baltimore, MD, Scott is a printmaker, weaver, sculptor, performance artist and educator, being most well-known for her work in jewelry, beadwork and glass. Scott’s work reflects on her take on American popular culture, as well as her ancestry and community. Her pieces serve as commentary for issues regarding race, politics, sexism and stereotypes. Scott received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and MFA from the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. Her work is in the collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Spencer Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2016, she was named a Fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Janet Biggs
A research-based, interdisciplinary artist, Biggs is known for her immersive work in video and performance. Biggs’ work focuses on individuals in extreme landscapes, navigating the territory between art, science and technology. Her work has taken her into areas of conflict and to Mars as a member of crews at Mars Desert Research Station and Mars Academy USA. Biggs’ has collaborated with high-energy nuclear physicists, mathematicians, neuroscientists and aerospace engineers. Last year, she sent a project up to the International Space Station as part of MIT Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative. She has had solo exhibitions and film screenings at Museos de Tenerife, Neuberger Museum of Art, SCAD Museum of Art and more. Biggs’ work has been supported by the John S. Guggenheim Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Biggs is a member of the New Museum’s cultural incubator, New INC, with the support of the Science Sandbox, and a member of The Explorers Club. She is a 1981 BFA graduate of Moore College & Art Design.
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