About the Call

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to announce the establishment of the VMFA Aaron Siskind Award for excellence in contemporary photography.

VMFA is proud to celebrate Aaron Siskind's artistic legacy, support the practice of photography as a vital means of creative expression, and honor the role that the Aaron Siskind Foundation played in supporting photographers through the Individual Photographer’s Fellowship.

We invite entries from artists working with still photo-based media.

This award is intended to support early- to mid-career artists as well as established photographers who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to their practice but who may not yet have received significant critical recognition.

This material support is meant to enable photographers to complete a meaningful body of work—whether the continuation or finalization of a photographic series; the development of an exhibition, monograph or book project; or another major creative endeavor.

What Winners Receive

Two artists will each receive an unrestricted prize of $25,000.

About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the largest comprehensive art museums in the United States. VMFA, which opened in 1936, is a state agency and privately endowed educational institution. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art, and to encourage the study of the arts. Through the Office of Statewide Partnerships Program, the museum offers curated exhibitions, arts-related audiovisual programs, symposia, lectures, conferences, and workshops by visual and performing artists. In addition to presenting a wide array of special exhibitions, the museum provides visitors with the opportunity to experience a global collection of art that spans more than 6,000 years. VMFA's permanent holdings encompass more than 50,000 artworks. In May 2010, VMFA opened the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing I after a transformative expansion, previously the largest in its history. A new expansion, the McGlothlin Wing II, is planned to open in 2028. Comprising more than 170,000 square feet, it will be the largest expansion in the museum's history and will make VMFA the fourth largest comprehensive art museum in the United States. As part of this expansion, the museum is constructing a suite of dedicated photography galleries and building a 12,500 square foot center for the study, care, and conservation of photographs and works on paper.

About the Aaron Siskind Collection at VMFA

In 2020, VMFA received an extraordinary gift of more than 8,000 photographs by Aaron Siskind from the Aaron Siskind Foundation in New York. Established by the artist in 1984, the foundation's mission was to preserve and protect Siskind's artistic legacy, as well as to foster knowledge and appreciation for photography through research, publications, exhibitions and an annual fellowship prize for individual photographers. When the foundation dissolved its operations in 2020, it sought to transfer the collection to an American art museum that would be willing to administer the annual fellowship prize and care for, interpret and display the foundation's core collection of Siskind's photographs. VMFA was awarded this major gift as a result of the museum's demonstrated commitment to photography and its outstanding fellowship program.

How to Enter

The VMFA Aaron Siskind Award for Photography is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are at least 18 years of age and for whom photography is a primary vocation.

Applicants are required to provide:

1. Basic profile information: name, contact info, etc.

2. A CV covering the applicant's professional background including training, exhibitions, awards, and publications. Applicants may upload a PDF or to type up to 2000 characters in the text field provided in the application.

3. An artist statement (up to 750 words) describing the applicant's artistic practice and detailing the project, series, or body of work the award will support. This must be a PDF file.

4. A portfolio of 10 to 15 images.

Notes:

• A book maquette (PDF file only) may be submitted as one of the images.

• All images must have been created in the past seven (7) years (2018–present).

• Both analog and digital photography are accepted.

• If Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used, it must not be the primary creative input. Any use of AI must be disclosed in the artist statement, along with details of the non-AI processes used.

Judging criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a panel of distinguished professionals in the field of photography and the visual arts.

The prize winners will be selected based on the strength of their artistic vision, the quality and significance of their proposed projects, and their contribution to the broader field of contemporary photography.

Award Notification

All applicants will be notified of their award status during the first week of November 2025.

All award recipients must complete a Commonwealth of Virginia W-9 Form to be entered into the state's payment system. Award funds will be dispersed by check in January 2026.

The award recipients will be asked to grant VMFA a non-exclusive license to reproduce at least three (3) works for press and publicity purposes. Recipients must also submit a summary report of how the award supported their creative work within 18 months of receiving it.