Blind Archer Strikes Again: Michael Bise Wins $50,000 Hunting Art Prize

Houston artist, Glasstire contributor and heart transplant patient Michael Bise has been awarded the Hunting Art Prize for 2012. The $50,000 unrestricted prize is the largest in North Amerca, and is given to a Texas artist anually by Hunting PLC, an oil services company.

Jurors for this years award were Eric Crosby, Curatorial Assistant of Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Julien Robson, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia; and Claire Schneider, Independent Curator based in Scottsdale, Arizona and former Senior Curator of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. They winnowed through 1600+  entries to select 100 finalists, zeroing in on one of Bise’s signature pecil drawings, Children, as the grand prize winner at the Company’s gala on Saturday night.

“I am both honored and humbled,” Bise said after winning the 2012 competition.  “This award not only brings recognition to the individual artists who participate and win, but also calls attention to the value and vitality of the Texas art community.”