Opening Doors, Embracing Change: The Frieze Impact Prize

Here’s a depressing statistic: the US has the largest incarcerated population on the planet, holding nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners: 2.2 million adults behind bars. That figure has quadrupled in 40 years – not owing to rising crime rates but to changes in sentencing laws. For those reentering society, opportunities are scarce, and more than 60 percent are still unemployed a year later.

Artists impacted by justice already face a challenging employment terrain even without the precarity of making a living through their work. For many, galleries and art fairs remain remote and impenetrable cloisters. The Frieze Impact Prize directly addresses this lack of opportunity. This year marks the fourth edition of the award, which recognizes artists whose practices centre on social justice. The recipients get $25,000 and – crucially – the opportunity to exhibit their work at Frieze Los Angeles. 

Since 2022, the Impact Prize has been supported by tireless organizations like the Art for Justice Fund (A4J) and Define American. As of 2024, Frieze, WME and The Center for Art & Advocacy (The Center) jointly bestow awards on previ­ous­ly incarcerated artists engaging with critical projects including the refram­ing of societal narratives and racial equity. The Center assists justice-impacted artists through financial and community support as well as mentoring and professional development. ‘Mass incarceration is one of the most urgent issues of our time,’ says Jesse Krimes, executive director at The Center. ‘Directly impacted artists tend to be the most under-funded, under-mentored, under-resourced and under-connected, and the spotlight offered at Frieze Los Angeles is a huge step in correcting all of those limitations.’

Since the Frieze Impact Prize’s inception, Mary Baxter, Maria Gaspar, Dread Scott, Narsiso Martinez and Gary Tyler have all been recipients of the award, their work spanning performance, sound, textiles and film. 

Mass incarceration is one of the most urgent issues of our time. Jesse Krimes

The origins of the prize lie in Mark Bradford’s Life Size (2019), exhibited at the first Frieze Los Angeles. The work, which features an image of a police body camera, appeared on posters through­out the city and on a billboard at Paramount Studios, where the fair was held. Bradford’s piece addresses the fallibility of policing and its accountability mechanisms and was accompanied by an editioned work, the sale of which has raised more than $1 million for A4J – money which has been directed toward bail and sentencing reform, and reentry opportunities.

The winner of this year’s Frieze Impact Prize will be guided in preparing their work for Frieze Los Angeles 2025 by Taylor Renee Aldridge, executive director at Modern Ancient Brown Foundation. In the role of mentor, Aldridge discusses the need to establish trust with the artist she is supporting and underlines the distinct challenges they face when pre­sent­ing work within the fast-paced, commercially oriented setting of an art fair. ‘My job is to make space,’ she says, ‘for the artist to vocalize the concepts and narratives that are imperative in the audience’s understanding of the artwork.’

Initiatives like the prize and ongoing support for these artists can have a real and profound effect, says Krimes. ‘We’ve watched artists use their increased platforms to uplift their own local communities or people who are currently incarcerated.’ While sustained support in traditional forms – such as mentoring and funding – is crucial, it must also involve widening the discourse around justice-impacted artists, so that their participation in art spaces is not tokenized or suffocated. Aldridge says that artists ‘want to be viewed as not just one monolithic being, but as complex and ever-evolving thinkers and makers’.

Looking ahead, the hope is that such efforts will not only transform individual lives but inspire systemic shifts within the art world and society at large, creating lasting change that extends far beyond the confines of the fair. 

The Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize is presented in partnership with WME and The Center for Art & Advocacy. See Victor ‘Marka27’ Quiñonez’s work at the Impact Prize booth at Frieze Los Angeles 2025. 

This article first appeared in Frieze Week Los Angeles magazine under the title ‘Beyond the Bars’. 

Further Information

Frieze Los Angeles, 20 – 23 February 2025, Santa Monica Airport.

Frieze is proud to support the LA Arts Community Fire Fund, led by the J. Paul Getty Trust. In addition to Frieze’s contribution, 10% of the value of all newly purchased tickets is being donated to the fund. 

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Frieze Los Angeles is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing its legacy of celebrating artistic excellence on an international scale.

^{Main image: Gary Tyler wins the Frieze Impact Prize at Frieze Los Angeles 2024. Photo: Casey Kelbaugh}