SARATOGA, CA—The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program (“LAP”) at Montalvo Arts Center is pleased to announce that artist Nathan Lynch is the recipient of the 2025 Marcus Commissioning Prize. Lynch was selected for his proposal to create a site-specific, public artwork entitled A Place for Meeting Strangers. This work is both a functional sculpture (a ceramic drinking fountain) and a social prompt as it invites two people to drink simultaneously while looking each other in the eye, creating an unusually intimate moment in public space. A Place for Meeting Strangers will be installed as part of the 2025 Marcus Exhibition at Montalvo entitled When the World is Beautifully Strange. The show opens on June 26 and runs through November 9, 2025. In celebration of the exhibition, a community-wide festival (Montalvo Funk) will take place on July 18.

“I am delighted to award Nathan Lynch with the 2025 Marcus Commissioning Prize,” said Kelly Sicat, Director of the Lucas Artists Program. “His whimsical and functional site-responsive ceramic sculpture will be a great addition to Montalvo’s grounds!”

Nathan Lynch was raised in Pasco, Washington, an agricultural community in the shadow of Hanford Nuclear Power Plant. He also spent time in Saratoga visiting his grandparents who would take him on walks to Montalvo. The contradictory environment of his youth in Pasco gave Lynch an acute sense of location and deep appreciation for irony. His concerns for political conflict and environmental upheaval are filtered through notions of absurdity, hand fabrication, and the dramatic devices of storytelling. As a sculptor, designer and performance artist, Lynch has made collaboration and experimentation major components of his practice. At the University of Southern California, Lynch studied with Ken Price, and later earned an MFA at Mills College with Ron Nagle. Lynch is an Assistant Professor of Art at California College of the Arts.

The Marcus Commissioning Prize

The Marcus Commissioning Prize, or Marcus Prize, is an award of $40,000 from Montalvo’s Lucas Artists Program. It was established through a generous leadership gift from the George and Judy Marcus Family Foundation in 2023. Each year, the Marcus Prize is given to an artist or collective whose project serves to engage an all-aged public to address Montalvo’s current curatorial themes. The award prioritizes, but may not be limited to, mid-career artists of any discipline with the expectation they will benefit most from this award to advance their work and visibility throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Selected commissions may take the form of an installation, a performance, or a participatory investigation, and are identified at the sole discretion of the Lucas Artists Program’s curatorial team with the support of Montalvo’s leadership. 

2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo, and the inaugural year of awarding the Marcus Commissioning Prize. The 2024 recipients of the Marcus Prize were Charlene Eigen-Vasquez, Ohlone Culture Bearer; and Mexican-born artist, Ana Teresa Fernández. Eigen-Vasquez was awarded the prize for her leadership in the creation of A Path Forward, a living monument to honor the Ohlone land that houses the Montalvo Arts Center. This work was designed to share indigenous knowledge and enlighten visitors about forest stewardship, land management, and environmental conservation in the natural ecosystems of Santa Clara County. It is both a participatory learning experience, as well as a permanent artwork that will expand over time to create a common understanding and a shared responsibility in land stewardship.

Fernández was awarded the Marcus Prize to create Circuitree, a fantastical forest with mirrors and plexiglass, which served as a portal through which visitors could witness their interdependence to both built and natural environments. Both works were included in the 2024 Marcus Exhibition, Future Dreaming… A Path Forward.

“To have the funds in place year after year to recognize the significant work of a mid-career artist is an extraordinary privilege,” said Executive Director of Montalvo, Angela McConnell. “It is our commitment at Montalvo to continue finding innovative ways to support artists in expanding their practice, so we are enormously grateful to Judy and George Marcus for this tremendous gift and their belief in the life-affirming work of artists.”