Mickalene Thomas Scholarship - Yale School of Art

Mickalene Thomas at Yale University, her alma mater

Photo by Luisa Opalesky.

The Yale School of Art is pleased to announce the establishment of the Mickalene Thomas Scholarship. Created by Bernard Lumpkin ’91 and Carmine D. Boccuzzi, Jr. ’90 LAW ’94, whose well-known art collection has recently been featured in the traveling exhibition Young, Gifted, and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, this new scholarship will be awarded yearly to an exceptional MFA student enrolled at the Yale School of Art. In addition to the monetary award, renowned artist Mickalene Thomas will personally mentor the recipient of the scholarship during their time in the program, exemplifying her dedication to supporting the next generation of artists and creators.

“Carmine and I were thrilled when Yale approached us with this opportunity to endow a scholarship in Mickalene’s honor,” Bernard Lumpkin shared. “Artist, curator, educator, and patron: one sees her impact and influence everywhere in the art world. This scholarship will amplify her voice and vision. Mickalene has distinguished herself among other artists of her generation not only through her groundbreaking work in a range of media but also through her advocacy and activism. She’s a true patron-artist: helping other artists in countless ways and collaborating with great institutions like the Yale School of Art, where her own career began and where—thanks to this scholarship—she will in turn nurture the careers of countless others.”

Kymberly Pinder, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Dean of the Yale School of Art, noted, “This newly endowed scholarship in honor of Mickalene—an artist and alum who has dedicated so much of her life to mentorship—is a tremendous step forward towards meeting our goal of making the Yale School of Art debt-free. We are grateful to Bernard and Carmine for their continued support of our mission and our students.”

Mickalene Thomas creates art historically informed work that recasts the central protagonists as women of color in the creation of a new art history that references both the civil rights movement and second wave feminism. Further, Mickalene Thomas’ mentor work reaches past the subject matter of her practice into real-world action. “I am incredibly grateful to the Yale School of Art, Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi for the opportunity to leave my legacy at Yale University.” says Mickalene Thomas. “Earlier this year I had the honor of designing a mural of scholar Pauli Murray on campus, cementing their own legacy and taking up space as a Black femme at this prestigious institution. This scholarship is a pivotal moment for me as I follow in Pauli’s footsteps by continuing to change narratives for future generations of scholars and artists.”

Mickalene Thomas received her MFA in 2002 from the Yale School of Art, where she has also served on the faculty as the 2020 Presidential Visiting Scholar, Critic in Painting/Printmaking, as well as a Visiting Artist. She is the founder of Art is Forward New York. Thomas has exhibited at Brooklyn Museum, The Smithsonian Museum, MoMA PS1, Seattle Art Museum, SFMoMA, National Portrait Gallery, Baltimore Museum, The Bass Museum AGO Toronto, The Wexner Center, Musée de L’Orangerie, Aspen Museum, among others. Her work is in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, The Whitney Museum, The Guggenheim Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, Newark Museum, Seattle Art Museum, The Hara Museum, The Rubell Collection, The Studio Museum in Harlem, among other public and private institutions and collections.

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