Cultural Council for Palm Beach County Awards 2026 Distinguished Woman Artist’s Prize to Amy Gross
Palm Beach County-based fiber and mixed media artist received the second annual $10,000 award at recent exhibition opening reception
(L-R) Dave Lawrence, President & CEO of the Cultural Council; Amy Gross, 2026 Distinguished Woman Artist’s Prize recipient; and Jessica Ransom, Director of Artist Services of the Cultural Council
Photo Credit: Premiere Photo
November 9, 2026 (Lake Worth Beach, Fla.) — The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County has named artist Amy Gross as the recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Woman Artist’s Prize. The Council presented Gross with the $10,000 award in front of an audience of more than 200 guests attending the opening reception of its Sun, Sand, Surf exhibition held last week in its William R. and Joyce A. Kruger Family Gallery.
In 2025, Suzi K. Edwards established the annual, unrestricted $10,000 prize through the Henry L. Kimelman Foundation. The award, created by the Cultural Council, champions the careers of established women artists who have demonstrated a track record of high-quality artistic production and are at an inflection point in their careers. The prize is intended to support the recipient’s continued artistic development and achievement.
Candidates for the Distinguished Woman Artist’s Prize were nominated by a regional panel of arts professionals. A final selection committee comprised of national and international visual arts professionals reviewed and scored the preliminary nominations. Eligible nominees must identify as female, be 40 years or older, and have resided in Palm Beach County for more than three years. They must also demonstrate artistic excellence and a strong commitment to their practice.
“Celebrating women artists and recognizing their contributions to our cultural landscape is essential to building a thriving and inclusive arts community,” said Dave Lawrence, President & CEO of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. “This prize recognizes Amy’s distinctive voice as an artist and her place in Palm Beach County’s vibrant arts community. We are grateful to Suzi K. Edwards and the Henry L. Kimelman Foundation for championing established women artists and helping give their work and accomplishments the recognition they deserve.”
Gross’ embroidered and beaded fiber sculptures bring together the natural world and her own inner life. They suggest not only what can be seen, but also what cannot: the early alterations of time and the first suggestions of disintegration. Her elements cluster, tangle, hybridize, and multiply, adapting to the environments in which they are placed. Yet, paradoxically, they are the result of human intention — completely unnatural.
Gross graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. In 2006, she received a South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship for Visual and Media Arts, and in 2020, she was named a recipient of the Cultural Council’s Artist Innovation Fellowship. In 2017, a piece entitled Gritty in Pink was awarded first place by Bailey Contemporary Art. She has also held residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and the Arrowmont Pentaculum Residency in Tennessee.
“The Cultural Council has been by my side from my earliest attempts at art making, and has remained so as I searched for, and found, my voice,” said Amy Gross, 2026 Distinguished Woman Artist’s Prize recipient. “They’ve encouraged my most ambitious ideas and allowed me to see beyond what I thought I can do. The Distinguished Woman Artist’s Prize is the wonderful gift of their believing I can do even more.”
The Distinguished Woman Artist’s Prize is one of several recurring programs at the Cultural Council that support both emerging and established Palm Beach County-based creative professionals. For more information, visit palmbeachculture.com/artist-grants.
About the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County
The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is the official support agency for arts and culture in The Palm Beaches, Florida’s Cultural Capital®. Headquartered in the historic Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. building in downtown Lake Worth Beach, the Council presents year-round exhibitions and performances featuring artists who live or work in Palm Beach County. The Cultural Council also provides services to cultural organizations and creative professionals, administers public and private grant programs, advocates for cultural funding, and promotes cultural tourism—including complimentary resources in its Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Information Center. For more information about the Council’s mission to nurture, promote, and support a healthy, diverse, and inclusive cultural sector, visit palmbeachculture.com.
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