The 2026 Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize winner is Anne E. Stoner.
The prize is offered annually by the museum in collaboration with the UW–Madison Art Department and offers a unique professional development opportunity for award winners. The selected artist is featured in an exhibition and gains experience throughout the entire process of the project, from collaborating with professional staff on layout and design, to marketing and program development. Selected by an outside juror, the winning artist also receives an honorarium.
This year’s juror is Tyler Blackwell (he/him), a curator, arts administrator, and museum leader from Fort Worth, Texas. He is currently the curator of contemporary art at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Specializing in queer and historically underrepresented artist practices, post-1960s abstract painting and sculpture, and postcolonial strategies in video and photography, he has worked in university, civic, and encyclopedic art museums and kunsthalles.