Harrower is one of 53 artists, representing every U.S. state and territory, who will receive a $10,000 unrestricted grant.
By Bennett Campbell Ferguson
January 28, 2026
Professor Juniper Harrower [art] has won a 2026 Creative Capital State of the Art Prize, a $10,000 unrestricted grant that will support her work as an artist, scientist, and interdisciplinary visionary.
“It’s the kind of award where I was always told, ‘It’s kind of a waste of time to apply because they’re so competitive and really impossible to get,’” Harrower says. “It’s a major high honor to get one. The freedom that comes with these kinds of recognition is that I can continue and become more experimental.”
For an artist, recognition by Creative Capital, a nonprofit championing artistic freedom of expression, can be work- and life-affirming. Yet it has become even more significant due to the introduction of the State of the Art Prize, which will support 53 artists hailing from every state and U.S. territory (including Guam, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.).
“Because I live in Oregon, I’m the Oregon artist. That’s pretty amazing,” says Harrower, who grew up in Southern California and holds a PhD in plant ecology from UC Santa Cruz and an MFA in art practice from UC Berkeley. “I know so many amazing Oregon artists, and I’m fairly new to the state.”
Fans of Harrower will next be able to experience her boundary-breaking work at the World Forestry Center, which will be showcasing her art-forest-science exhibition Forest Hope Through Innovation. The exhibition will feature the work of 12 innovators in the field and run from March 1 to August 31.
“I really like functioning in the role of an educator—and thinking across science, art, policy, public engagement, and all of those components,” Harrower says. “I think that artwork can operate in multiple ways and at multiple scales.”