Art Professor Nicole Santiago has taught life drawing at William & Mary for 19 years, but she has a passion for painting, a highly competitive niche in the art world. So when she learned of an art competition for women that squarely focused on her speciality – figurative painting in the realist tradition – she entered. 

The Bennett Prize, first established in 2018 and administered by the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan, was created to “propel the careers of women painters who have not yet realized full professional recognition.” It has been awarded biennially since 2019. The winner receives $50,000; the runner-up, $10,000. This year’s competition drew more than 800 entrants. 

Ten finalists were named, including Santiago, who also won the Elaine Melotti Schmidt Prize, awarded to the runner-up. 

“I was thrilled just to be named a finalist,” she said. “I can’t speak highly enough of the sponsors, who are art collectors themselves, and the museum and all the things they’re doing to promote the careers of female artists. Their mindset is it’s not enough just to buy the work of women artists.”

Since arriving at William & Mary in 2006, Santiago has taught a variety of studio courses, offering Life Drawing and Composition & Color on a regular basis. In her studio at Lake Matoaka, she maintains an active painting practice, frequently inviting students to see what she’s working on or to help them individually with a question about their own work. 

She has shown her artwork in over 100 exhibitions over the past two decades. She describes her paintings as semi-autobiographical, depicting domestic scenes that suggest familial narratives, with layered storylines. 

The Bennett Prize sponsors are Steven Alan Bennett and his wife, Elaine Melotti Schmidt. The couple collects artwork by women figurative realist painters. But Art Martin, the Muskegon Museum’s director of exhibitions and collections, said that as the couple’s collection has grown, so has their awareness of inequities that confront women in the arts. ‍Museums and galleries present far fewer exhibitions of art by women and have fewer pieces by women in their collections. Artwork by women generally sells for less than works by male artists. 

“They saw a need among the living artists they were collecting for more support, more gallery exposure, more effective marketing to help these artists take their career to the next level. That was the original impetus,” Martin said. “What Steve and Elaine wanted to do was increase the market so these women can make a living as artists.”

All 10 finalists were invited to Muskegon for a May 15 reception at which the winner was announced, against a backdrop of an exhibition of their paintings. This year’s winner was Amy Werntz of Texas. Receiving the second place prize was so gratifying, Santiago said. 

“I was really happy to be named the runner-up, but more than that I was so impressed with how much care had been taken to make the trip meaningful,” Santiago said. The day after the reception, the museum hosted the finalists for workshops tailored to helping them fine-tune the business aspects of being a professional painter. 

“Only one artist wins, but what we try to do is elevate all of them,” Martin said. The workshops featured professionals who offered marketing tips and discussed social media content strategy to help the artists boost engagement with art lovers. “It’s a lot of hints and tips on how to apply for shows, how to get galleries to carry your work, even how to ship your art around.” 

The finalists’ paintings will be on exhibit at the Muskegon Museum until Aug. 14.  Subsequently, the exhibit will travel for two years to other regional museums, showcasing the work of all 10 women painters from coast to coast. 

“They have done so much to get our names out there, it is really humbling,” Santiago said. “This is like the biggest award out there for female artists who do figurative painting.”