| About the 2025 award: $50,000 to support a new multidisciplinary project and expand individual artistic practice. |
Devan Shimoyama (b. 1989, Philadelphia) is a multimedia artist based in Pittsburgh where he also taught at Carnegie Mellon University from 2014-2023. Primarily working in painting, his work often depicts the queer Black male form as he investigates the politics of queer culture while navigating his own personal narratives. He received his BFA in drawing and painting from Penn State University in 2011 and his MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale University in 2014. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2018); Kunstpalais Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany (2021); CAC Malaga, Malaga, Spain (2023); and most recently at The Ulrich Museum of Art in Wichita, KS (2025) and The Rowan University Art Gallery and Museum in Glassboro, NJ (2026). Shimoyama was also a recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award from Penn State University in 2019 and completed his Civitella Ranieri Fellowship in 2024. His work is on view in 'A Queer Arcana' at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Springs, Ca. through Oct. 18, 2026 and 'Let There Be Light' at Cannonball Arts in Seattle through Sept. 30, 2026.