You May Already Be A Winner

An artist’s artist inspired a remarkable prize that benefits local artists.

Before there were the Neddy Artist Fellowships, whose 2008 winners are on view at the Tacoma Art Museum through August 24, there was an artist named Robert E. “Ned” Behnke. “I was very moved by his work,” says Regina Hackett, art critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “He had absolute credibility, because he was a good painter.” Though he had a profound hearing impairment, Behnke was omnipresent on the scene, communicating despite the disability. “His community was artists,” says Hackett.

Ned died young in 1989. But thanks to the Behnke family and the Behnke Foundation, his name now signifies unusual beneficence. The Neddy is a bit like the famous MacArthur “Genius” award, in that no one can apply for it. “As for the MacArthurs, there are anonymous nominators who select the recipients,” explains Chris Bruce, director of the WSU Museum of Art, who selected the final winners from the pool of anonymously selected nominees.

“It really is a great surprise,” says Stephanie Stebich, director of the Tacoma Art Museum. “The nominators work quietly.”

The final selector visits the nominated finalists in their studios and talks with them about their work. Decisions on the winners are made on the basis of those conversations.

Then comes cash — out of the blue. This year, there is $15,000 each for winners Randy Hayes in painting and Akio Takamori in ceramics and $1,000 each for the finalists: painters Catherine Cook, Denzil Hurley and Robert Yoder and ceramists Doug Jeck, Peter Olsen and John Taylor. The money has no strings attached, none of the restrictions or requirements to produce work that usually come with important prizes.

There is a triumphal honorees’ dinner with the Behnkes and a major exhibition at TAM — with a catalogue, an increasing rarity, alas, in the art world.

“Every stage of the process acknowledges everyone who’s in this rarefied group,” says Bruce. “To me, it’s about building a community as much as it is about acknowledging the winners. I mean, how do you build a creative community? You need that sense that people care, that you’re not just working anonymously.”

“It is a great honor to be recognized by local nominators,” says Takamori. “Local people get to know the artists much better in the long term.” The Neddy will enable Takamori to develop a new, experimental project that he has been contemplating for some time.

“I knew Ned Behnke, says Hayes, “and I’m just really pleased to be able to accept this award given in his name.”

“You may have heard that painting is dead in the art world,” says Stebich, wryly. She points to the fact that one of the Neddy Fellowships is given to a painter as among the virtues of the award. “And the sum is princely, about fifty percent more than the Oregon prize,” an award made annually to a Northwest regional artist by the Portland Art Museum. 

Another important feature of the Neddy is the catalog that accompanies the show at TAM. “Exhibitions are ephemeral,” Stebich observes. Then there is the pleasure of joining the elite ranks of previous Neddy recipients. “There’s a sense of camaraderie, a spirit of being selected in the same class,” Stebich says. “Winning is like being crowned class president. For the tenth anniversary in 2005, there was a reunion here at the museum of all the Neddy winners.”

Stebich sees the Neddy as a big win not only for the region’s artists, but also for the Tacoma Art Museum. “For the museum, it’s a wonderful way to celebrate the art and artists of the Northwest,” says Stebich. “It’s our unique value proposition, our killer category! We’re bigger than our square footage!”

Indeed, the Neddy distinguishes Tacoma among cities of a similar size — Portland or Kansas City, for example. “Museums, including Tacoma Art Museum, do biennials,” says Bruce, “but it’s not as intimate a selection process.”

“It’s my favorite opening of the year,” says Stebich. “For the public, the Neddy show is always an eye-opener. It’s also our opportunity to build the collection. Our biennial generally features younger artists; Neddy winners are often mid-career artists.”

Bruce credits the museum with the Neddy award’s winning streak. “Tacoma Art Museum has clearly articulated its mission — in large part to represent and celebrate Northwest art.” Stebich elaborates: “There’s this quote of Wayne Gretsky’s. People asked him why he was such a phenomenal player. And he said, ‘I go where the puck will be.’ I think artists go to that place, too. And museums have to go where the artists go.”

What would Ned Behnke make of the Neddy awards? “Oh, he’d be thrilled!” says Hackett. “The community was smaller then. I think there’s more opportunity for artists like Ned now. Still, there’s no one quite like him. It’s really time for another look at his work, a show.

“Hey, art community! I love the Neddy. But bring back the art of Ned Behnke!”

Photo: Neddy Award–Winner Akio Takamori's Princess, 2008. Courtesy of the artist and James Harris Gallery, Seattle.