LEGACY AWARD
LIU SHIMING
Established in 2026 on the centennial of Liu Shiming’s birth, the Liu Shiming Legacy Award honors artists and cultural leaders whose sustained contributions to the visual arts embody Liu Shiming’s humanistic vision and his conviction that art is inseparable from lived experience. The award recognizes individuals who approach artistic practice not only as aesthetic production, but as a civic and ethical commitment: one grounded in collective memory, cultural continuity, and social responsibility.
Throughout his career, Liu Shiming (1926–2010) dedicated himself to portraying the dignity, vitality, and inner spirit of everyday people. As both sculptor and educator, he believed that art must remain close to life, attentive to the emotional and moral dimensions of human experience. The Legacy Award extends this philosophy into the present, honoring practitioners whose work advances cross-cultural dialogue, historical reflection, and meaningful social impact.
By recognizing artists whose practices balance intellectual rigor with empathy and public engagement, the Award affirms the Foundation’s mission to foster artistic work that connects communities across generations and geographies.
Inaugural Recipient in 2026
Photo Credit: Jai Lennard
Hank Willis Thomas
The inaugural Liu Shiming Legacy Award was presented to Hank Willis Thomas on February 25, 2026, during the Liu Shiming Art Foundation’s Centennial Gala in New York City. Thomas’s multidisciplinary practice critically examines identity, commodity culture, media, and historical narrative, foregrounding the structures through which images shape collective consciousness.
His commitment to interrogating systems of representation while centering human experience resonates deeply with Liu Shiming’s lifelong dedication to honoring the spirit and dignity of ordinary life. The presentation of the award marked a defining moment of the Foundation’s Centennial celebration, reaffirming the enduring relevance of Liu Shiming’s philosophy in a contemporary global context.
The Liu Shiming Legacy Award will continue as an annual distinction, recognizing artists whose work expands the social and cultural role of art and sustains its capacity to act as a connecting force across communities and histories.