- Artists must work in the Bay Area and be available for local studio visits (nine counties qualify: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma)
- Artists must not yet have received substantial recognition by a major institution
- Artists may not be enrolled in an undergraduate or MFA program by the time of award announcement (May 2026)
- SECA members, SFMOMA employees and their relatives, and previous SECA award recipients are not eligible to be nominated
About the SECA Art Award
Since 1967, the SECA Art Award has honored more than 90 Bay Area artists with an exhibition at SFMOMA and an accompanying publication. The award distinguishes Bay Area artists whose work, at the time of nomination, has not received substantial recognition from a major institution. The nomination window for the 2026 SECA Art Award has now closed. If you are interested in participating in our spring studio visits with the award finalists, please reach out to seca@sfmoma.org to learn more about joining our SECA membership group.
Nomination Criteria
Artist Eligibility
The SECA Art Award honors Bay Area artists whose work has not, at the time of nomination, been accorded substantial recognition from a major institution. SECA members, employees of SFMOMA and their relatives, artists currently enrolled in an undergraduate or MFA program, and previous SECA award recipients are not eligible for the Art Award.
Application Review
Following the nomination process, select artists will be invited to submit a portfolio application including their C.V., an artist’s statement, and representative images of their work. The SECA Art Award curators will then select sixteen of these applicants for studio visits.
Studio Visits
Studio visits are led by the SECA Art Award co-curators and are ticketed events open to all active SECA members.
Selection of Art Award Recipients
Following the completion of studio visits, the SECA Art Award curators select the awardees.
Exhibition
The SECA Art Awardees are featured in an SFMOMA exhibition and an accompanying publication.
2024 SECA Art Award Finalists
Michael Arcega
Miguel Arzabe
Libby Black
Rose D’Amato
Oliver DiCicco
Paz G.
Nimah Gobir
Jamil Hellu
Angela Hennessy
Rhonda Holberton
Camille Holvoet
Ahn Lee
Meryl Pataky
Trina Michelle Robinson
Rupy C. Tut
Arleene Correa Valencia
Recipients of the 2024 SECA Art Award are noted in bold
Award History (1967–2024)
| 1967 | SECA Grant Award Mel Henderson |
| 1968 | SECA Grant Award Peter Zecher |
| 1969 | SECA Grant Award William Allan |
| 1970 | SECA Grant Award James Reineking |
| 1970 | SECA Vernal Equinox Special Award* Bonnie Ora Sherk and Howard Levine |
| 1971 | SECA Grant Award Wayne E. Campbell |
| 1971 | SECA Vernal Equinox Special Award* Terry Fox |
| 1972 | SECA Vernal Equinox Special Award* Stephen Davis |
| 1973 | SECA Grant Award David Kimball Anderson; Special recognition: David Jones, Jim Pomeroy |
| 1973 | SECA Film as Art Awards* Ronald Chase, Robert Burrill, Horst Leissl, Jeffery Miller, Frederick Fierstein, Amnon Igra, Steve Klocksiem, Larry Lansburgh, Brian Lansburgh |
| 1974 | SECA Grant Award Charles R. Garoian, Jerome Johnson, David Jones, Bryan Rogers, and Mary Snowden |
| 1974 | SECA Film as Art Awards* Robert Bloomberg, Vince Collins, Peter Hutton, Larry Huston, Jeffrey Hale, Derek Lamb, Suzanne Simpson |
| 1975 | SECA Film as Art Awards* James Broughton, Dave Viera, Michael O’Callahan, Richard Bell, Vince Collins |
| 1975 | SECA Grant Award Ciel Bergman (aka Cheryl Bowers), Lucian Octavius Pompili, and Cornelia Schulz |
| 1976 | SECA Grant Award David Maclay |
| 1977 | SECA Art Award David Best, Michael Jean Cooper, Glenn Jampol, and Miklós Pogány |
| 1978 | SECA Art Award Milton Komisar |
| 1978 | SECA Film as Art Awards* Dennis “Sky” David Pies, Gregg Schiffner, Rollin Buckman, Robert Burrill, Niccolo Caldararo, Robert C. Chiesa, Amanda C. Pope |
| 1980 | SECA Art Award Squeak Carnwath, Suzanne Hanson, and Seth Seiderman |
| 1980 | SECA Photography Invitational* Gay Block, Jack Butler, Vida Freeman, Sally Gall, Victor Landweber, Thomas Neff, Jane O’Neal, Susan Rankaitis, Gail Skoff, Wolf von dem Bussche, and Steve Yates |
| 1980 | SECA Film as Art Awards* Les Blank, Ronald Chase, Bruce Conner, Pat Ferrero, Suzanne Simpson, Andy Aaron, Michael Anderson, Vince Collins, Sally Cruikshank, Dennis “Sky” David Pies, Lambert Yam |
| 1981 | SECA Art Award Marc Katano, George Lawson, and Margaret Rinkovsky |
| 1982 | SECA Photography Invitational* John Bloom, Lynda Frese, Paul Klein, Douglas Muir, Michael Narcisco, Jeanne O’Connor, Art Rogers, Thom Sempere, Barbara Thompson, Bruce Van Meter, and Laura Volkerding |
| 1983 | SECA Art Award Clay Jensen |
| 1984 | SECA Art Award Larry Thomas |
| 1984 | SECA Film as Art Awards* Michael Naimark: Displacements; Gunvor Nelson, Michael Emery, James Irwin, Michael Rudnick, Don Bonato, Bruce Conner, Arthur Dong, Keith M. Jones, Charles Koppelman, Stephanie Maxwell, Greg McLain, David Michalak, Christian Schiess |
| 1985 |
SECA Art Award Richard Overstreet and Rick Soss |
| 1986 | SECA Art Award Ev Thomas |
| 1987 | SECA Art Award Anna Valentina Murch |
| 1987 | SECA Film as Art Awards* Susan Friedman, Ruby Yang, Sal Giammona, Eric Sayetta, Dominic Angerame, Al Hernandez, Cathy Levine, Alan Mukamal |
| 1988 | SECA Video Invitational Award* Lawrence Andrews, Paula Levine, Marek Pacholec, Alan Rath, Lisé Swenson |
| 1988 |
SECA Art Award Susan Marie Dopp |
| 1990 | SECA Art Award Nayland Blake and John Meyer |
| 1990 | SECA Film as Art Award* Sal Giammona, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Michael Wallin, Sylvie Carnot, Ted White |
| 1992 |
SECA Art Award John Beech, Hung Liu, and Maria Porges |
| 1992 | SECA Video Award* Barbara Hammer, Marlon T. Riggs, Jonathan Robinson, Ed Rudolph, Michele Zaccheo; award commission: Christiane Robbins |
| 1994 |
SECA Art Award Toi Hoang |
| 1996 | SECA Art Award D-L Alvarez, Anne Appleby, Barry McGee |
| 1996 | SECA Electronic Media Award* Rebeca Bollinger, Jim Campbell, Paul DeMarinis, and Carol Selter |
| 1998 |
SECA Art Award Chris Finley, Gay Outlaw, Laurie Reid, and Rigo 98 (now Rigo 23) |
| 1998 | SECA Award in the Media Arts: Film* Ronald Levaco, Corey Ohama, Jay Rosenblatt, David Sherman, John Turk |
| 2000 | SECA Art Award Rachael Neubauer and Kathryn VanDyke |
| 2001 |
SFMOMA Experimental Design Award* Thom Faulders, Donald Fortescue, and Post Tool Design |
| 2002 |
SECA Art Award John Bankston, Andrea Higgins, Chris Johanson, and Will Rogan |
| 2004 | SECA Art Award Rosana Castrillo Díaz, Simon Evans, Shaun O’Dell, and Josephine Taylor |
| 2006 |
SECA Art Award Sarah Cain, Kota Ezawa, Amy Franceschini, Mitzi Pederson, and Leslie Shows |
| 2008 | SECA Art Award Tauba Auerbach, Desirée Holman, Jordan Kantor, and Trevor Paglen |
| 2010 | SECA Art Award Mauricio Ancalmo, Colter Jacobsen, Ruth Laskey, and Kamau Amu Patton |
| 2012 | SECA Art Award Zarouhie Abdalian, Josh Faught, Jonn Herschend, and David Wilson |
| 2017 | SECA Art Award Liam Everett, Alicia McCarthy, Sean McFarland, K.r.m. Mooney, and Lindsey White |
| 2019 | SECA Art Award Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Sahar Khoury, Marlon Mullen |
2022 | SECA Art Award Binta Ayofemi, Maria Guzmán Capron, Cathy Lu, Marcel Pardo Ariza, Gregory Rick |
2024 | SECA Art Award Rose D’Amato, Angela Hennessy, Rupy C. Tut |
*SECA Award Special Exhibitions and Presentations