Dallas Contemporary (DC) has announced the recipient of its second annual NTX Graduate Program Award. The $8,000 award is given to an artist chosen from among the cohort of North Texas university students in the program’s annual exhibition at the noncollecting contemporary art museum.
Anna Katz, Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and guest curator for the 2026 exhibition, titled In the Works, selected sculptor Nadin Nassar of the University of North Texas (UNT) to receive the award.
Nadin Nassar with her artwork in the “In the Works” exhibition at Dallas Contemporary. Photo: Kevin Todora for Dallas Contemporary
Nassar was born in Cairo, Egypt, and received her BFA from the University of Houston (UH) and is preparing for her MFA thesis exhibition at UNT. Both universities are embroiled in controversies surrounding censorship and free expression, with UH faculty asked to avoid controversial subject matter in their teaching, and UNT students engaged in ongoing protests over the cancellation of an art exhibition on the lived experience of Latinos in the U.S. at their university.
The press release announcing Ms. Nassar’s award notes that she is among UNT students refusing to show their thesis work at the university over free speech concerns: “As a result, Nassar and her peers are currently without a venue to publicly present their MFA thesis work and are actively seeking spaces in which to present their graduate exhibitions.”
As described in the press release, Ms. Nassar’s sculpture i was liberated, i was free, i was everything you told me i wouldn’t be / AMERIKKKA’S FREEDOM FORN’T ALL (2025), in the In the Works exhibition, involves a faceless figure with hijab removed, “while its hollow counterpart sits beside it, doubling the body and its absence.”
Regarding her selection for the NTX Graduate Program Award, Ms. Nassar spoke of the grant giving her the freedom to continue in her work despite obstacles. “In a moment when empathy and attention feel unevenly distributed, this recognition reminds me that the hardships and doubt in the studio are not in vain. I feel so unstoppable now. I just want to make, make, make,” she said.
According to DC, the award is meant to help an outstanding student in the transition from school to their independent art career, and “reflects [the museum’s] belief that a supported local artistic ecosystem benefits all levels of civic and cultural life.”
Last year’s recipient, multimedia installation artist Elijah Ruhula of Texas Christian University (TCU), was selected by Matthew Higgs, the inaugural NTX Graduate Program guest curator, for a solo exhibition at White Columns in New York, which Mr. Higgs directs. Mr. Ruhala is represented by Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas.
In the Works remains on view at Dallas Contemporary through Sunday, March 15. Learn more about the artists in the exhibition here.