AMFA Announces Molly Kaderka as Grand Prize Winner of the 2024 Delta Triennial

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) announces Molly Kaderka as the Grand Prize winner of the 2024 Delta Triennial. Kaderka was presented with the Grand Prize and an award of $5,000 during the exhibition’s Member and Press Preview Event on June 27, 2024.

Kaderka of Stillwater, Oklahoma, is an interdisciplinary artist whose work in painting, printmaking, and drawing reflects her deep interest in natural phenomena and the history of humanity and Earth. She holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her artwork has been showcased in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the U.S., earning her several prestigious accolades, including the Walter Feldman Fellowship and the Visual Arts Artist Fellowship Grant.

Jurors Amy Kligman, Alexis McGrigg, and Takako Tanabe were tasked with curating the exhibition and selecting the Grand Prize winner. Brian J. Lang, AMFA’s Chief Curator and Windgate Foundation Curator of Contemporary Craft, served as the in-house curator for the exhibition.

“We are all very taken with this work by Kaderka because it has a very high-level of craft and technique that feels innovative,” exclaimed juror Amy Kligman, Executive Director of the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, Mo. “She’s using this marbling practice–almost laminated to the wall–and it’s really the first time we’ve seen an artist use this exact application. It’s very expansive and there’s something about it that just draws you in.”

“This application requires a lot of skill,” said juror Alexis McGrigg, a former Delta Voices participant originally from Utica, Miss. “Thinking about the scale of it, so much thought must go into this sort of practice. And it’s so seamless. When you get close to it, you can’t see any separation of lines or the material and it’s very impressive.”

“The piece is so detailed,” mentioned juror Takako Tanabe, Founder of Ulterior Gallery in SoHo, New York. “The closer you look, the more you find. And the more time you spend with the work you start to realize the choice of technique and material speaks to what she was trying to express. [The jurors] were in awe.”

While visiting the exhibition, guests can vote for the People’s Choice Award through August 4, 2024. The winner will be announced during Delta Table: A Member Meal on August 10, 2024. During the event, guests will enjoy a decadent dinner experience that celebrates the Delta Triennial. Each course will feature dishes inspired by traditional cuisine from the Delta region, including craft cocktails and delicious desserts.

The 2024 Delta Triennial is presented by Anne and Merritt Dyke. Additional support provided by Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP and the Andre Simon Memorial Trust Fund in memory of everyone who has died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The People’s Choice Award supported by The John William Linn Endowment Fund.

For more information on the Delta Triennial or other AMFA programming, please visit arkmfa.org.

About the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

Founded in 1937, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is the largest cultural institution of its kind in the state, offering a unique blend of visual and performing arts experiences. AMFA is committed to featuring diverse media and artistic perspectives within its permanent collection of 14,000 works of art as well as through rotating temporary exhibitions. AMFA’s international collection spans eight centuries, with strengths in works on paper and contemporary craft, and includes notable holdings by artists from Arkansas, the South, and across the United States and Europe.

With a vibrant mix of ideas, cultures, people, and places, AMFA extends this commitment to diversity through its dynamic children’s theatre and performing arts program, the innovative Windgate Art School, and community-focused educational programs for all ages. Located in Little Rock’s oldest urban green space, MacArthur Park, AMFA’s landmark building and grounds are designed by Studio Gang and SCAPE, in collaboration with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects.

About Molly Kaderka

Molly Kaderka is an interdisciplinary artist working across painting, printmaking, and drawing. Kaderka’s work is inspired by her deep interest in natural phenomena and in human and earth history. As an amateur astronomer and rock enthusiast, her research in Astronomy and Geology has led her to search out and observe moments in the natural world, like the night sky, as well as geological specimens and human artifacts, in order to translate them into compelling visual images.

Molly Kaderka holds a BFA in Painting and Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute (2011), and MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design (2018). Her work has been shown nationally including solo exhibitions at the Haw Contemporary and Kiosk Gallery in Kansas City and in group shows at Morgan Lehman Gallery, Asya Geisberg Gallery, (NY), Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and Kimball Arts Center (UT), Hiestand Galleries at the University of Miami and Manifest Gallery (OH), The Jones Center at the Austin Museum of Art (TX), Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts (MA), and Newport Museum of Art (RI). She currently has a solo exhibition at the Jamestown Art Center in 2020.

Recent 2019 awards include the Walter Feldman Fellowship issued by Arts and Business Council of Boston, Visual Arts Artist Fellowship Grant issued by the Somerville Arts Council, and Juror’s Prize for Surface exhibition at the Attleboro Museum curated by Neal Walsh.

Image Credit Line: Molly Kaderka (Austin, Texas, 1989 - ), Ferrous Form, 2023, hand-marbled paper collaged and laminated to the wall, 174 x 224 in., Courtesy of the artist. Photographed by Jason Masters