Nicholas Galanin Wins 2024 Don Tyson Prize
The USD 200,000 prize for advancing American art was awarded to Nicholas Galanin, whose work explores Indigenous identity, culture, and representation. Save to My Ocula
Lingít and Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin, from Sitka, Alaska, has received the Don Tyson Prize, a biennial award recognising individuals or institutions in the U.S. that transform how people perceive or experience American art.
Established in 2016 by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas to honour the late Don Tyson, former chairman and CEO of Tyson Foods, the award seeks to raise awareness, challenge perceptions, and enhance accessibility in the arts.
Galanin, who learned jewellery-making and carving at the age of 14 under the guidance of his father and grandfather, studied at London Guildhall University and Massey University in New Zealand. His work combines traditional Tlingit techniques with contemporary practices to critique colonialism and celebrate Indigenous culture.
His work has been displayed in solo exhibitions at institutions including Baltimore Museum of Art (2024–2025); SITE Santa Fe (2023); and New York Public Art Fund (2023), and is part of major collections including Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, both in New York, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Ranked 82nd in ArtReview‘s 2024 Power 100 list of the art world’s most influential figures, Galanin is recognised for his efforts to combat the misappropriation of Indigenous visual culture. He is currently represented by Peter Blum Gallery, New York.
Previous Don Tyson Prize winners include Deborah Willis (2022), and community organisation Project Row Houses (2020). —[O]
Main image: Nicholas Galanin. Courtesy the artist, Peter Blum Gallery, New York and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville.
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