College of the Arts

Meet the 2026 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize Winners

by Mary McVein September 4th 2026

Person in striped shirt laying on blue striped beach towels and surrounded by a ring of orange life vests.
Clara Harlow in collaboration with The Harlow Family, Family Swim, 2026. A co-authored art exhibition featuring the water works of Bill Harlow, Therese Straseski, Hannah Harlow, and Tessa Harlow. [Photo: Sarah Blesener]

The Jordan Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design and the College of the Arts are pleased to celebrate the thirteenth year of the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize at Portland State University and announce the three prize recipients for 2026.

The highest award offered in the school, the prize acknowledges the achievement and promise of our students. It is a meaningful expression of our values and commitment to excellence in higher education and the arts. A jury composed of Schnitzer School faculty and representative professionals from the art and design community reviewed 47 applications from art and design students, both undergraduate and graduate, to award three prizes.

This year’s recipients, each receiving $4,100, are:

  • Clara Johnson, BFA in Art Practice, ‘26
  • Clara Harlow, MFA in Contemporary Art Practice: Social Practice, ‘26
  • Nina Vichayapai, MFA in Contemporary Art Practice: Social Practice, ‘26

In recognition of their outstanding work, Jury Commendations went to Amity Cummings (BFA in Graphic Design, ‘26) and Simeen Anjum (MFA in Art + Social Practice, ‘26).

The Jordan Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design is extraordinarily grateful to Jordan Schnitzer and the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation for their support in creating the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize. It was established by Arlene Schnitzer in 2013 to recognize student achievement in the Jordan Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design and to raise awareness of the quality of art education at PSU. With Arlene's passing in 2020, we are grateful for this annual opportunity to honor her memory and legacy as a devoted and inspired leader of art and culture in Portland. The endowed award ensures that each year, three aspiring artists and designers will continue to receive significant recognition and a financial boost as they begin their lives as active, creative practitioners.

An exhibition showcasing the work of the prize winners will be on view at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University in 2027. A public reception and awards celebration honoring the prize recipients will be held at the museum (date to be announced). All events are free and open to the public.

About our prize winners

A person dressed like an astronaut is crowd surfing at an event.
Clara Johnson, I Might Drop You, 2025. Film photograph.

Clara Johnson

Clara Johnson is a photographer, writer, and poet based in Portland, Oregon. Working across photography and text, she examines the image as a visual language whose perceived objectivity shapes memory, narrative, and collective experience. Influenced by her work as a film projectionist, Clara investigates photography's historical ties to journalism, propaganda, and the entertainment industry, exploring how visual media mediates perception and soothes social unrest. Through saturated color, close observation, sequencing, and writing, her work considers crowds, collective memory, and the emotional disorientation of contemporary image culture.

Clara’s work has been exhibited at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU, Blue Sky Gallery, PLACE Gallery, and the PAM Rental Sales Gallery. She received a BFA in Art Practice from Portland State University.

Three swimmers at a public pool seen from underwater.
Clara Harlow with Matt Dishman Swimmers, Swim Circle, 2026. Public event series at Matt Dishman Community Center Pool.

Clara Harlow

Clara Harlow is an interdisciplinary artist whose socially engaged practice creates participatory events, workshops, and systems of exchange that transform everyday dilemmas into opportunities for collective play, learning, and problem-solving. Working at the intersection of art and daily life, she explores collaboration, alternative value systems, and the creative potential of shared experience.

Recent collaborations include Portland Parks & Recreation, the New York Public Library, the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC), and the Fabric Workshop and Museum. Clara holds an MFA in Art and Social Practice from Portland State University and a BA in Studio Arts from Bard College. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon, and Brooklyn, New York.

claraharlow.com | Instagram: @all_corndogs_go_to_heaven

Green wall filled with small framed family photos.
Nina Vichayapai, For Our Ancestors Who Love Horses, 2026. Archival images in found frames with rhinestones, 48” x 96” x 3”

Nina Vichayapai

Nina Vichayapai is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores margins and peripheries through sculpture, social practice, public intervention, and everyday acts. Informed by her experience as a first-generation Southeast Asian American immigrant, she examines alternative value systems and creates work that moves between galleries, museums, and public space.

Nina’s work has been exhibited at the Tacoma Art Museum, the Wing Luke Museum, and on telephone poles and community bulletin boards. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Seattle Public Library, Deception Pass State Park, Caldera Arts, and Lloyd Center Mall. She received a BFA from the California College of the Arts and an MFA in Art and Social Practice from Portland State University. Born in Bangkok, Thailand, she lives in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.

nvichayapai.com | Instagram: @Nvichayapai

2026 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize Jury

  • Kate Bingaman-Burt, Associate Director, Jordan Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design,
    Professor of Graphic Design
  • Alberto McKelligan Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Art History at PSU
  • Sean Schumacher, Associate Professor of Graphic Design at PSU
  • Kat Richards, Assistant Professor of Art Practice in Printmaking at PSU
  • Erik Geschke, Professor of Art Practice in Sculpture at PSU
  • Maryanna Ramirez, Director, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU
  • Kathleen Murney, Assistant Director, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU
  • Kelsey Snook, Freelance Creative Director and Designer
  • Jen Stady, Founder and Director of Laundry Studio
  • Kyra Watkins, Artist, 2023-24 Artist-in-Residence at PSU
  • Jordan Hoagbin, Graphic Designer and Art Director at Nike, 2013 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize
    recipient.

About the Jordan Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design

Driven by a belief in the power of art to shape society, Portland State University's Jordan Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design and its dynamic faculty provide a place where emerging artists, designers, and art historians can question, create, reflect, and learn. With over 1,000 undergraduate majors, a vibrant and growing graduate program, and a faculty of internationally recognized artists, designers, and scholars, the Jordan Schnitzer School brings together students from diverse backgrounds to exchange ideas and cross conventional aesthetic boundaries. Whether in the studio, computer lab, lecture hall, or working in the community via internships, service projects, exhibitions, and collaborations, our students forge connections between visual art traditions and their developing expression.

Return to all news