Pelham Art Center Announces 12th Biennial Rutsch Award Winner

Press release from Pelham Art Center:

March 16, 2023

Pelham Art Center is pleased to announce Haley Hasler as the winner of the 12th Biennial Alexander Rutsch Award for Painting. A solo exhibition of a selection of paintings by Hasler is on view May 24-July 16 at Pelham Art Center. An opening reception will be held on May 24 from 6-8pm and is open to the public.

Colorado-based Haley Hasler works in the realm of the painted self-portrait and represents herself as a central point in an endlessly revolving domestic drama. Hasler illustrates the joys, fantasies, theatrics,realities and challenges of being both a devoted mother and an artist in a world that tells women that they can have it all with a flourishing career and parenthood.

She has had solo exhibitions at Boston’s Alpha Gallery, the Fort Collins Museum of Art (CO), and the Richard J. Demato Gallery in Sag Harbor, amongst others. Hasler has also taught at Colorado State University, University of Virginia, Piedmont Virginia Community College, College of Fine Arts (Boston), and at the University of the West Indies as part of the US Fulbright Program.

Hasler depicts the joy, frustration and humor of family life through carnival colors, extravagant costumes, and elaborate surroundings. Through her life events coupled with fiction and fantasy, Hasler explores the role of women in today’s society through the lens of art history, culture and domesticity.

“I cannot remember a time in my life when painting has felt as urgent to me as the present,” Hasler says. “The email I received letting me know that I had won the 2023 Alexander Rutsch Award arrived at a time in my life when I have been working under some constraint. The causes, I believe, are the recent Pandemic, which affected most artists, and major events shaping the last several years of my life. Despite the challenges, this incredible honor comes at a time when I have discovered new energy and purpose in my work. The Alexander Rutsch Award exhibition at the Pelham Art Center will greatly expand the conversation I am able to have with viewers of my work. That is the artist’s dream.”

Hasler was selected for the 2023 Alexander Rutsch Award from among eight finalists and approximately 400 total applicants nationwide. The 2023 Alexander Rutsch Award finalists include: Carrie Lederer, Hui Tan, Jeffrey Glossip, Jessica Alazraki, Matthew Robinson, Sarah Granett, and Tracy Burtz. These talented artists represent a wide range of original perspectives and approaches to their work.

The judging panel for the 12th Biennial Rutsch Award was composed of Rutsch family members, Pelham Art Center Gallery Advisory Board members, and two guest jurors: Patricia Miranda and Jason Stopa. Miranda is an artist, curator and educator who founded The Crit Lab graduate-level critical seminars for artists, and MAPSpace project space and residency program. Stopa is a painter and writer who currently teaches at The School of Visual Arts and Pratt Institute.

The Rutsch family states: “We are honored and thrilled to have the 12th Alexander Rutsch Award this year at the Pelham Art Center. This year’s finalists were an incredible group of painters with an exciting wide range of vision. We look forward to sharing the 2023 winner, Haley Hasler's masterful figurative work with the community. Thank you to the guest jurors Patricia Miranda and Jason Stopa for their time.”

This press release was produced by Pelham Art Center. The views expressed here are the author's own.