Artist Marie Watt lands $250K Heinz Family Foundation prize
Renowned Seneca Nation interdisciplinary artist Marie Watt is the recipient of one of the country’s most distinguished arts awards.
Watt joins a slate of honorees at this year’s Heinz Awards, now in its 30th year held by the Heinz Family Foundation. Six honorees will be given unrestricted cash awards totaling $1.5 million for their contributions to the arts, economy and environment — $250,000 per awardee.
“This year, we celebrate 30 years of honoring Americans who excel in the qualities that my husband, John Heinz, held in highest regard: intellectual curiosity, an informed optimism, a passion for excellence, and a willingness to take risks,” said Teresa Heinz Kerry, chairman of the Heinz Family Foundation and chair emeritus of The Heinz Endowments.
Watt’s work combines printmaking, textiles, and sculpture to explore cultural intersections and the tapestry of shared human stories. As a member of the Seneca Nation (part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy), Watt draws upon Haudenosaunee feminist teachings and Indigenous knowledge to address themes relevant to contemporary life. Known for her collaborative approach, she often invites Community members to contribute through open sewing circles and public calls for materials steeped in memory and lineage. These collective efforts have become expansive monuments now found in significant public art collections, including at both the Seattle Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Watt’s work often engages the Community as subject and collaborator, an approach that has taken the form of sewing circles, community-built sculptures, or crowd-sourced social media participation. These have sparked multigenerational dialogue and a deeper sense of connection between people and place.
Blankets play a central role in Watt’s practice. Her Blanket Stories sculpture series comprises towering structures of folded blankets donated to the artist by local Communities, each accompanied by personal notes recounting the importance of these simple items to the individual or family. Watt adds each story to a label carefully pinned to the blanket, transforming these humble objects into monolithic monuments of care and collective histories.
“I approach this dance between Community, conceptually storied materials, and my studio with openness. I am drawn to the relationship between part and whole, call and response, and individual and group. Working with the Community resonates with me as it tangibly connects art and life,” Watt explains in a Heinz Foundation press release.
“I see blankets as living, storied objects. Many blankets, particularly wool blankets and quilts, are passed down through generations. We are received into this world in blankets and in many ways depart in a blanket, and in between we are constantly imprinting on them—worn areas, stained bits, and mended parts are like beauty marks and part of the object’s history.”
Watt’s commitment to Community engagement was powerfully embodied in her 2023 installation, Sky Dances Light. Cloud-shaped forms suspended from the ceiling shimmered with thousands of tin jingles, evoking ceremonial Regalia used in dances traditionally performed as a healing offering.Her 2024 installation, Land Stitches Water Sky at the Carnegie Museum of Art, reflects on Pittsburgh’s industrial legacy while honoring the contributions of Indigenous steelworkers, particularly Haudenosaunee “Skywalkers” who helped shape the modern urban skyline. Her work has also been on view at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, the Gund at Kenyon College, and the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
