Roberto Lugo. | Photo by Joshua Franzos, Courtesy Heinz Foundation THE HEINZ FAMILY FOUNDATION’S annual Heintz Awards celebrate outstanding contributions in the arts, as well as the economy and environment. This year, the five recipients include artists Roberto Lugo and Kevin Beasley. Heintz Award recipients receive a medal and an unrestricted $250,000 cash prize. A Philadelphia ceramic artist, Lugo’s work reflects his Afro-Latino heritage, hip-hop culture, and racial justice issues. He describes his practice as reimagining traditional European and Asian vessel forms with a 21st century street sensibility. His ornate works feature portraits of contemporary and historic figures. Lugo has paid homage to Alma Thomas, Satchel Paige, Bootsy Collins, Celia Cruz, Chadwick Boseman, Sidney Poitier, Sonia Sanchez, and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. He has also put rappers and pit bulls on his work and often immortalizes himself. Lugo has said he grew up poor in a violent neighborhood, where he expressed himself through graffiti. He moved away and attended community college in Florida, where he was first exposed to pottery, a transformational experience. Subsequently, he earned a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Pennsylvania State University. Representing his community is central to […]
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