Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts are proud to announce that Renee Stout is the winner of the 2012 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize.

In conjunction with Artscape, Baltimore’s premier arts festival organized by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, the BMA presents a special exhibition of works by the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize finalists: Lisa Dillin, Jon Duff, Hasan Elahi, Matthew Janson, John McNeil, and Renee Stout.

Named after the late Baltimore civic leader Walter Sondheim and his late wife, Janet, the Sondheim Prize recognizes the achievements of visual artists living or working in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and southeastern Pennsylvania. This prestigious award is designed to assist visual artists or visual artist collaborators in furthering their careers by awarding a $30,000 fellowship.

The semi-finalists, finalists, and winner are all chosen by an independent panel of jurors. The winner of the $30,000 prize will be announced on July 14 at the BMA.

Presented by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts in partnership with The Baltimore Museum of Art.

The exhibition is generously sponsored by Stiles Tuttle Colwill and Jonathan Gargiulo.

The 2012 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is made possible by The Abell Foundation and The M&T Charitable Foundation. Additional support provided by Alex. Brown Charitable Foundation, The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, Charlesmead Foundation, Ellen Dankert, John Sondheim, France-Merrick Foundation, Willard Hackerman, Hecht-Levi Foundation, Legg Mason, and an anonymous donor.