The Brooklyn Museum is pleased to award the 2026 UOVO Prize—which recognizes the work of emerging Brooklyn-based artists—to Keisha Scarville (born Brooklyn, New York, 1975). Selected by a jury of Brooklyn Museum curators, Scarville is the sixth annual recipient of the prestigious prize, receiving a public installation on the Brooklyn Museum’s Iris Cantor Plaza, a commission for a fifty-by-fifty-foot public art installation on the facade of UOVO’s Brooklyn facility in Bushwick, and a $25,000 unrestricted cash grant. The artist’s first large-scale installation, Where Salt Meets Black Water, curated by Pauline Vermare, Phillip and Edith Leonian Curator of Photography, Brooklyn Museum, will open on the Brooklyn Museum’s plaza on May 8, 2026.
“As a Brooklyn native, I am deeply honored to be this year’s recipient of the UOVO Prize,” says Scarville. “My images, inspired by my Caribbean heritage, occupy a space between two lands. I look forward to realizing this installation at the Brooklyn Museum, a cultural cornerstone of New York City. This prize represents a dream fulfilled and brings me great joy to celebrate the Caribbean diaspora in Brooklyn.”
Rooted in a practice that combines photography, collage, and archival material to explore themes of migration, memory, and absence, the installation reflects directly on Scarville’s experiences as part of the Caribbean diaspora in the borough. Born in Brooklyn to Guyanese parents who immigrated to New York in the 1960s, Scarville offers a tribute to her family by exploring connections between material objects such as fabric and photography. The Museum stoop and adjacent walls will feature vinyl reproductions of striking black-and-white photographs and still lifes, many of which are part of the series Mama’s Clothes. The series overlays imagery onto garments belonging to the artist’s late mother, Alma. Through this dynamic installation on the Museum’s plaza, Scarville transforms individual remembrance and loss into communal memory and shared belonging, offering a sanctuary for visitors to gather and reflect. The title of the installation also draws on ideas of care and renewal, referencing the dark, mineral-rich “black waters” found in Guyana believed to carry healing properties.
“We’re thrilled to present the UOVO Prize to Keisha Scarville, whose work so powerfully reflects the lived experiences of Brooklyn’s Caribbean community—an essential part of our borough’s past, present, and future,” says Pauline Vermare. “It feels deeply meaningful for this work to be accessible to all on the Museum’s plaza, welcoming everyone into the Museum through stories of memory, migration, and belonging.”
“We’re delighted to continue our partnership with UOVO through the sixth annual UOVO Prize, an award that reflects our longstanding mission to champion Brooklyn artists,” says Anne Pasternak, Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Brooklyn Museum. “It’s an honor to present Keisha Scarville’s work on our plaza, a tribute to the Caribbean community whose creativity, traditions, and histories have profoundly shaped Brooklyn’s cultural life.”
Scarville’s installation on the facade of UOVO Brooklyn features an archival photograph that her mother purchased when she moved to the United States in the 1960s, and which Scarville has preserved. This image depicting a mother and child is juxtaposed against a garment belonging to the artist’s mother. The installation will be on view until October 2026.
“The UOVO Prize reflects our commitment to supporting the artists who shape Brooklyn’s creative and cultural landscape,” adds Steven Guttman, UOVO Founder and Co-Chairman. “Keisha Scarville’s work, grounded in textiles and personal history, speaks to the powerful intersection of art and fashion that is so central to our community and to our work as a company. We’re honored to support her vision.”
Previous UOVO Prize winners are John Edmonds, Baseera Khan, Oscar yi Hou, Suneil Sanzgiri, and Melissa Joseph.