PHX Art Museum: Lehmann Emerging Artist Award

The Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards foster the creative practices and careers of emerging Arizona-based artists. Candidates must have resided in Arizona for a minimum of one year and are invited to apply through an annual open call hosted by Artlink, a non-profit organization that has supported and amplified Arizona artists and community-based art events and initiatives for more than 30 years. Recipients receive $10,000 in monetary support and the opportunity to present a joint exhibition at the Museum with fellow Lehmann awardees. The 2025 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards jury was also assembled by Ramírez and included Ramírez; Lana Meador, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, San Antonio Museum of Art; Olivia Miller, Executive Director, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon; Ann Morton, 2019 Scult Family Artist Award recipient; and Sally Lehmann. 

The Museum has named Chris Ignacio and Jan Talmadge Davids as the recipients of the 2025 Lehmann Emerging Artist Awards. Based in Phoenix, Chris Ignacio is a Filipino-American puppeteer, producer, educator, and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersection of voice, technology, and identity. He began his puppetry career in New York in 2012, training with experimental artists at La MaMa and working across theater, community arts, and livestream media. In 2023, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as a puppeteer in Florencia en el Amazonas, directed by Mary Zimmerman. He has also premiered original puppetry works at New York theaters including La MaMa, The Tank, and The Brick, and has toured both nationally and abroad. In Phoenix, Ignacio has served as a media designer for major institutions such as Ballet Arizona, Arizona Broadway Theater, Arizona Opera, and Childsplay. His original projects, including those featured in exhibitions at Vision Gallery and Mesa Arts Center, center community collaboration, particularly with young people or people with limited arts exposure. He holds an MFA in Theatre/Interdisciplinary Digital Media from Arizona State University (ASU), where he now teaches motion capture and 3D animation. Ignacio also serves as creative producer for the T. Denny Sanford Harmony Institute at ASU. 

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