The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is thrilled to announce the recipients of the inaugural Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize: Julian Charrière and Cecilia Vicuña. This prestigious prize, established earlier this year by philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt, aims to recognize artists whose work sheds light on urgent environmental concerns and inspires innovative solutions.
Both Charrière and Vicuña, selected by a distinguished jury, will receive a $100,000 unrestricted honorarium and crucial institutional support from MOCA to develop groundbreaking projects that bridge art, climate change, and environmental justice. Their unique yet complementary approaches to tackling these issues through art made them stand out among the nominees.
The Schmidt Prize reflects MOCA’s unwavering commitment to fostering critical discourse on environmental issues through contemporary art. Johanna Burton, Maurice Marciano Director of MOCA, emphasizes the significance of the prize: “The Schmidt Prize is a testament to the power of art to provoke dialogue and inspire action around the most critical issues of our time. Julian Charrière and Cecilia Vicuña are two extraordinary artists who have dedicated their careers—and lives—to illuminating the connections between environmental degradation and cultural memory.”
Charrière, known for his interdisciplinary practice spanning film, photography, and sculpture, often draws inspiration from his field research in remote locations like glaciers, volcanoes, and radioactive sites. His work explores the evolving relationship between humanity and nature. For his MOCA commission, he will delve deeper into the fragility and resilience of planetary water systems, creating an immersive installation that blends art and science. This interactive installation will invite audiences to reflect on the urgent realities of climate change and environmental degradation while experiencing the raw beauty of nature.
Vicuña, whose work spans six decades, is renowned for her large-scale installations, performances, and poetry. Her work draws upon ancient Indigenous Andean systems of knowledge, reimagining them for contemporary audiences. For her MOCA commission, she will create a “Quipu of Encounters”, a participatory project building upon a series of collective actions she has initiated globally since the 1960s. This project, inspired by the prompt “to dream the return of water”, will facilitate an exchange of ideas, poetry, and political strategies between communities fighting for water rights in Chile and the Los Angeles region.
Both Charrière and Vicuña expressed their gratitude and excitement for receiving the prize. Charrière stated, “This prize, in collaboration with Eric and Wendy Schmidt, reinforces the museum’s commitment to supporting artists who engage with these pressing questions. I’m excited to embark on this journey, allowing me to further explore how art can shape conversations on climate and sustainability—themes that have always been central to my work.”
Vicuña added, “We are past the time when we could do just art; now, our efforts must also confront the existential threat to humanity itself by conjuring new systems for relating and hearing each other across social class, race, and national boundaries. I suspect the new art required of us is also the oldest, the encounter. It is in this spirit I propose my commissioned project with MOCA, Quipu of Encounters: The Dream of Water [Quipu de encuentros: El sueño del agua], a call to create pods of action and exchange between the creative forces of art, science, and community by readapting ancient Indigenous Andean methods such as the “quipu” and the “minga,” to bring unity in a field of exacerbated individualism.”
The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize is a testament to the power of art to address critical environmental challenges. It highlights the importance of artists as catalysts for change, inspiring dialogue, fostering innovation, and promoting environmental justice. The prize, awarded biennially until 2030, will continue to recognize artists whose work contributes to a more sustainable and equitable future.
For more information about the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Environment and Art Prize and the upcoming projects by Julian Charrière and Cecilia Vicuña, visit moca.org/about/schmidt-prize.
