Bubbly Creek bat houses, 2024. Cedar wood, aluminum, stainless steel. 168” x 10” x 10”. Courtesy of the Artist.
April 16, 2026
Artadia
Announcing the 2026 Chicago Awardees
Artist and DoVA alum Nick Raffel (MFA 2014) has been named as one of the three 2026 Chicago Awardees by Artadia, a non-profit grantmaking organization and nationwide community of visual artists, curators, and patrons.
From the jurors: "Working primarily through site-specific interventions, Nick Raffel demonstrates a keen sensitivity to the particularities of each context," said Ionit Behar. "A generous and gentle form of institutional critique aptly describes Raffel's practice. Rather than adopting an oppositional stance, Raffel engages institutions from within, attending closely to their structures, rhythms, and internal logics. He frequently collaborates with specialists across disciplines—designers, fabricators, architects—expanding the conceptual and material possibilities of his work."
"The works of Nick Raffel are exquisite interventions in spaces yearning for change," said Daniel Merritt. "Using simple, yet precise machines to create apertures and opportunities for movement and circulation within buildings, Raffel is an artist committed to improvement via the redirection of energy. These are gentle, yet persistent provocations: if art can tangibly improve an environment, why not embrace those changes for the long haul?"
The Awards decision was reached after an extensive two-tiered jurying process. This year's finalists for the Awards included Jonas N.T. Becker, Le Hien Minh, and Sherwin Ovid, selected by Round 1 jurors Ionit Behar, Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, MCA Chicago; Laurel McLaughlin, Curator and Director of the Collective Futures Fund, Tufts University Art Galleries; Sara O'Keeffe, Senior Curator of the Sculpture & Architecture Park, Art Omi. All six finalists held virtual studio visits with Round 2 jurors Ionit Behar, Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator, MCA Chicago, and Daniel Merritt, Chief Curator, Aspen Art Museum.