Arlene Schnitzer was a devoted champion and benefactor of the arts throughout Portland. Courtesy of the Oregonian.
As a graphic design student at the School of Art + Design, Leah Maldonado ’20 set out to challenge the practice of typography with a new typeface she called GlyphWorld. An expressionist design made up of nine “landscapes,” GlyphWorld forms a universe of letterforms that Maldonado likens to a garden. “Each stylized letterform has been planted and nurtured by me,” she explains. “I am their author, I grew them—but they will continue to grow without me.”
The project was the culmination of months of creative work set in motion when Maldonado was named the top winner of the 2019 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize, the highest award offered in the School of Art + Design.
For Maldonado, winning the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize was validating.“I didn’t realize that I was an artist,” she says, “or that I was a good one.” Now working as a designer at Nike’s Jordan brand, she credits the prize, and the typeface she created with it, for opening doors. “It really put me on the map as a new, bizarre kind of type designer,” she says. “I got a job at Wieden + Kennedy two weeks after the reception party. This prize helped start my career.”
The Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize was established in 2013 with a gift from the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation. Known as a devoted champion of the arts in Portland, Arlene Schnitzer, who passed away in 2020, nurtured the careers of numerous artists throughout her life. The prize honors her legacy by celebrating three PSU student artists and designers each year as they launch their professional lives.
Leah Maldonado's experimental typeface, GlyphWorld, at the showcase for the 2019 prize winnersTo be considered for the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize, students in the School of Art + Design submit a portfolio of work and a proposal for a project they intend to create. The prize includes a financial award along with faculty mentorship for the winners as they create a final showcase for exhibition.
Over the 10-year history of the prize, 29 artists have been honored with this prestigious vote of confidence. Notable past winners include interdisciplinary artist Shawn Creeden MFA ’19 (2017); social-practice artist and activist Patricia Vázquez Gómez MFA ’14 (2013), now an adjunct faculty member in PSU’s MFA Social Practice program; and brand designer Jordan Hoagbin ’15 (2013).
Artist Kelsey Snook has participated on the jury for five years. Known for her largescale, interactive installations and a list of partnerships that includes Design Week Portland, OMSI, and London’s Royal Festival Hall, Snook says she is consistently impressed by the quality and authentic nature of the work submitted for the jury.
“Students in the School of Art + Design have developed a very strong sense of self and sense of vision,” Snook says. “They are creating something that is personal and unique to them, and that they can build on.”
The jury looks “for artists who are clear about what they want to do next, like they’re on the cusp,” Snook says. “You can tell that they have created a great body of work, they have a strong approach, and there’s more work ready to be done—they just haven’t had the time or space to do it yet.”
That is especially true of this year’s recipients, says Snook.
The 2022 prize recipients are Johanna Houska ’22 in first place; Shelbie Loomis MFA ’22, second place; and Nia Musiba, third place.
“I felt really proud of my body of work and all the hours I put into it,” says Houska, whose work is rooted in “radically responsible” and historical textile-making techniques. “To have that extra jolt of appreciation was amazing.”
That the prize carries the name of one of Portland’s most notable arts benefactors adds an extra weight to the honor, says Maldonado, who calls the late Schnitzer “iconic.”
“Arlene has been a role model to me for a long time,” says Maldonado. “I feel incredibly lucky to have met her. Her contributions to the arts in Portland have made my humble little city feel big and exciting. Like her, I hope to support and help foster the careers of many artists in the Pacific Northwest in the little ways that I can.”
Maldonado returned to serve as a juror for this year’s prize. “This year’s prize winners are extremely strong artists that I admire very much. They all have one foot in the art world already, and the prize will definitely help them plant both feet firmly in it!”
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State will showcase the work of the 2022 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize winners Feb. 28 - April 29, 2023, with a reception and awards ceremony on March 2, 2023.