September 17, 2026

Words: Osman Can Yerebakan

The Spector Craft Prize Announces Sharif Bey As Its Inaugural Recipient

Spector Craft Prize has announced today Sharif Bey as the winner of its first namesake prize. The announcement also celebrates the winners of the first Spector Craft Prize for Emerging Artists recipients who are Merryn Omotayo Alaka, Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng, Demetri Broxton, Vivian Chiu, and Luke-Thomas Tokimasa Henderson. Each recipient of the emerging artist prize receives $10,000 as well as mentorship opportunities while Bey’s recognition comes with the funding to acquire his work, Raptor Return, into the collection of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The Prize has been established by philanthropists and collectors Warren and Abigail Spector who together run the Spector Family Foundation. “There are extraordinary artists working in this country, with deep technical knowledge and incredibly sophisticated ideas, whose work has not always received the same level of institutional recognition as other forms of contemporary art,” Abigail Spector told Interior Design and emphasized that the idea of a prize stemmed from trying to understand the reason behind this lack of institutional recognition of craft artists.

Man with a beard wearing safety glasses sanding a ceramic plate in a pottery workshop, surrounded by shelves with pottery items.
Sharif Bey photographed during the Arts/Industry residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Courtesy of the artist and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Photo: Jeff Stasney.

Bey who is based in Syracuse and works mainly in ceramics explores the material’s ties to histories, politics, and identity, as well as these subjects’ overall connectedness with craft. The 52-year old artist who previously received the United States Artist Fellowship, the Pollock-Krasner Fellowship, and the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship was selected out of a two-step process which included a group of established artists suggested by the advisory board; and then, the committee worked with the curatorial team at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art with guidance from design critic Glenn Adamson to finalize a shortlist and select the winner. “Contemporary craft can sometimes overlap with the evocative work we see in contemporary art, but what makes it especially compelling is the way innovative works draw on material histories and traditions of making and using objects.” Bey told Interior Design about the acknowledgement and added that he was trying to sell $30 coffee mugs at street fairs not long ago. He also reminded the challenges of working in craft today by saying, “I think many of us have moments of doubt, and I know from hearing from the emerging awardees that receiving this award reminded them that they are moving in the right direction.”

Spector also underlined that American craft “has never been one tradition and it has been shaped by Indigenous knowledge, immigration, regional practices, vernacular traditions and artists constantly adapting and reinventing what came before them.” The winners will convene for a six-day summit focused on the future of American craft between November 10–12 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Explore Works By Sharif Bey

  • A necklace featuring round, dark beads, metallic spikes, and hollow, shell-like forms arranged symmetrically on a white background.
    Sharif Bey [American, b. 1974] Alchemy, 2025. Earthenware, vitreous china and mixed media. 41 x 46 x 4 1/2 inches, 104.1 x 116.8 x 11.4 cm. Courtesy the artist and albertz benda, NY | LA. Photo: Adam Reich.
  • Ceramic bird sculpture with a spiky body, an eye on its head, and orange beak and ear-like shapes, against a white background.
    Sharif Bey [American, b. 1974] Kiwi Bird #1, 2019. Earthenware and mixed media. 20 x 13 x 13 inches, 51 x 33 x 33 cm. Courtesy the artist and albertz benda, NY | LA. Photo: Ian Kline.
  • A ceramic sculpture featuring a stylized bird perched atop a base covered with jagged, angular protrusions in shades of gray, red, and white against a white background.
    Sharif Bey [American, b. 1974] Ceremonial Vessel I, 2016. Earthenware and china shards. 17 x 10 x 10 inches, 43.2 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm. Collection of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC. Courtesy the artist and albertz benda, NY | LA. Photo: Jamie Young.
  • Round ceramic jar with lid, decorated with alternating horizontal bands of blue glaze and textured dark lines. The lid has a matching pattern and a knob handle on top.
    Sharif Bey [American, b. 1974] Carved Blue Jar, 2007. Black stoneware.14 x 13 x 13 inches, 35.6 x 33 x 33 cm. Courtesy the artist and albertz benda, NY | LA. Photo: Jamie Young.
  • Sculpture featuring two stylized human faces, one above the other, both surrounded by numerous nails protruding outward from the surface.
    Sharif Bey [American, b. 1974] Uplifted Faces, 2022. Earthenware and mixed media. 21 3/4 x 12 1/2 x 14 inches, 55 x 32 x 35.5 cm. Courtesy the artist and albertz benda, NY | LA. Photo: Jamie Young.
  • A circular necklace made of pointed, multicolored beads in earthy tones, arranged closely together with metal clasps at the ends, displayed on a white background.
    Sharif Bey [American, b. 1974] Raptor Quilt series #2, 2021. Earthenware and mixed media. 24 x 23 x 4 inches, 61 x 58.5 x 10 cm. Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX. Courtesy the artist and albertz benda, NY | LA. Photo: Adam Reich.
  • A beaded necklace with alternating white and brown beads, featuring five large oval orange stones hanging at the center.
    Sharif Bey [American, b. 1974] Hate Deflectors II, 2018. Cast glass, earthenware and mixed media. 28 x 25 x 2 inches, 71 x 63.5 x 5 cm. Courtesy the artist and albertz benda, NY | LA. Photo: Adam Reich.

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