UMD-Phillips Book Prize Awarded to Manuscript on Slavery and Abolition

The University of Maryland Center-Phillips Collection Book Prize has been awarded to a manuscript addressing sculpture’s relationship to slavery and abolition in transatlantic contexts.

The award for “Sculpture at the Ends of Slavery,” by Caitlin Beach, an assistant professor at Fordham University, comes from the UMD Center for Art and Knowledge at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. It supports publication of a first book by an emerging scholar presenting new research in modern or contemporary art since 1780. The winning book is published by the University of California Press, and its author receives $5,000.

“I feel honored that the selection committee has recognized my work fir this award,” Beach said. “It’s inspiring to having the chance to be a part of conversations about race and modern culture already ongoing with the University of Maryland and the Phillips Collection book series, and I look forward to the new direction in which this will push my thinking and writing.”

This is the ninth book prize awarded by the Phillips Collection since 2008, and the second jointly awarded with UMD.

“Publishing Dr. Beach’s innovative manuscript on sculpture’s relationship to slavery and abolition is a perfect example of the mission of our partnership with the Phillips Collection: advancing scholarship and innovation in the arts,” said Mary Ann Rankin, senior vice president and provost at UMD.