The 2025 Recipients

June, 2025

PAAM is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2025 Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant: Chris Clamp of Charlotte, NC; Sarah Lubin of Brighton, MA; and Delvin Lugo of New York, NY. The three recipients split an award of $35,000 along with a group exhibition at PAAM in 2026.

The jurors were Sayantan Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Denise Rogers and Jess Van Nostrand. More than 700 applications were received.

THE ARTISTS

Chris Clamp, Charlotte, NC

Chris Clamp is a contemporary realist still life painter. Growing up in Leesville, SC, he spent much of his time combing through odds and ends in his grandfather’s barn, divining stories about their importance and meaning. Now, he sources all manner of vintage objects with nostalgic resonance to compose universal narratives in his own work. His deft abilities with oil paint elevate his subjects beyond pure kitsch and into portrait-like territory. Clamp lives and works in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife, Lauren, and cats, Thiebaud and Morisot.

“My recent work continues my exploration of the commonplace object, now as a vehicle to somewhere greater. Objects, no matter how ordinary, hold a magic and a power that can transport us to different times and realms, depending on how they are arranged, used or treated. My new paintings showcase this phenomenon through isolation and dynamic composition. When I consider these paintings, the phrase “far from home,” comes to mind. For me, it refers to the effect nostalgia can have. Memories can comfort and they can also emphasize how much distance there is between then and now. My hope is always that my paintings will cause viewers to engage with their own memories and perhaps be transported.”

Sarah Lubin, Brighton, MA

“Each of the paintings I have included depicts a place and time as a confluence of elements, both observed and invented, that emerge out of the painting process. Figures are inextricably linked to the moments they inhabit. The spaces both contain and connect. While there is a sense of comfort, vitality is generated through the interaction of color and the contrast of flat shapes with sculptural elements, particularly faces and hands, evoking a story.

Figures, color, and pattern serve as the armature for each scene. The starting point is often a specific pose or a posture. A rug, a shadow, or an arm activates the space but also evokes a particular narrative. The composition develops through a constant negotiation among formal elements, sometimes creating compartments of focus, or frames, that can illuminate or obscure.”

Sarah Lubin (b. 1980) received a B.A. in Art History from McGill University in 2001, followed by a year in Foundation Studies at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. She received an M.A. in Art History from Columbia University in 2005 and an M.F.A. in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2010. Lubin was awarded two Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grants (2019 & 2021). She is the recipient of a finalist award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and her work was featured in the Northeast issue of New American Paintings in 2018.

Lubin has had solo exhibitions most recently at Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY. Selected group exhibitions include: The Painting Center, New York, NY; My Pet Ram, New York, NY; Zinc Contemporary, Seattle, WA; Galleri Ramfjord, Oslo, Norway; Gallery 360, Boston, MA; Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA.

Delvin Lugo, New York, NY

“I create narrative figurative paintings centering on the themes of home and intimacy within LGBTQ+ community. These works offer scenes where friends are engaged in poetry reading, dancing, and a lover’s embrace. I’m interested in the tension between feelings of belonging and alienation that revolve around the notion of home.

Compositions of multiple images are collaged and sketched before transferred to oil on canvas. The vibrant color palette draws inspiration from the house colors found throughout the Dominican Republic’s countryside. Realistically rendered figures set against two dimensional surroundings creates a dynamic space within the work.

Most recently I’m painting directly on vintage linens such as tablecloths, pillow cases, and doilies. At closer proximity, details of the embroidery weave their way through the painted figures making the surface appear embossed. In some works the textiles hang off the stretched bars mimicking a tablecloth or curtains becoming sculptural and essential for contextualizing the figures depicted. Through these paintings I set out to update the family portrait by humanizing my subjects and legitimizing queer homes. Making them visible and affirming their worth is crucial in today’s fragmented and polarized cultural reality.”

Delvin Lugo (b.1977, Dominican Republic) is a New York City-based artist whose work explores themes of home, intimacy, and identity through narrative figurative painting. He began his studies at the Maine College of Art before moving to New York to complete his education at the School of Visual Arts.) Upon completing art school, fashion styling became his creative outlet. Being surrounded by many creative designers inspired him to create and paint again. Delvin is a 2024 Bronx Art Museum AIM Fellow and also a current LMCC Workspace resident. He is grant finalist of the Hopper Prize, and his work has been featured in New American Painting issue #152 and ESSE Magazine #107. His work has been acquired by Microsoft Art Collection, Fidelity Investments Art Collection, and private collections. Lugo’s work will be featured in the 2026 Bronx Museum of Art AIM Biennial Exhibition.

THE JURORS

Dr. Denise Rogers is a San Diego native, mother of two and Professor of Art History at San Diego Mesa College. She earned a B.A. in Visual Arts/Criticism from U.C.S.D., a Masters in Art History from S.D.S.U. and a Ph.D. in Visual Studies with an emphasis in Feminist Studies from U.C. Irvine. She is currently a Professor of Art History at San Diego Mesa College and teaches courses that range from the Pre-Historic to Contemporary art, as well as courses in regions outside of the west. She manages the Mesa College World Cultures Art collection and curates yearly exhibitions in the Mesa College Glass Gallery. She has also curated exhibitions at the Mesa College Art Gallery and San Diego Public Library. She has presented on African American art and the Diaspora during special events on campus as well as at the California Community College Association yearly conference, San Diego Museum of Art, Grossmont College, and the San Diego Public Library. She also Chairs the San Diego Museum of Art African and Pacific Arts Council and is the Educational Advisor and a Board member of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art. She specializes in Modern Art and Contemporary art with specific emphasis on the art of Women, African Americans and the Diaspora and how indigenous artifacts inform contemporary ideologies.

Jess Van Nostrand is the Director of Public Engagement and Curatorial Strategies at the Morris Museum. She is an interdisciplinary arts leader with over twenty years of experience leading innovative curatorial and education-centered projects.

Jess began her career as an independent curator in Seattle, creating exhibitions that investigated themes of contemporary life by crossing disciplines and featuring under-recognized work being made in the Northwest.

In February of 2011, Jess began work on a new venture titled The Project Room, an arts experiment that featured exclusively works-in-process for the public, cultivating research and public discussion about how creativity works, while producing a 21-episode companion podcast series and online literary journal. An archive of The Project Room can be found at www.projectroomseattle.org

Jess was Assistant Director of Exhibition Programs & Gallery Initiatives at the Museum of Modern Art from 2014 -2020 and Director of Exhibitions & Public Programs at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council from 2022-2023.

Sayantan Mukhopadhyay is the Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine. He received his MA and PhD in Art History at UCLA, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on queer aesthetics in contemporary Indian art at the end of the twentieth century. He has held positions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Getty Research Institute and was a participant in the Center for Curatorial Leadership’s Mellon Foundation Seminar in 2020.

Mukhopadhyay arrived in Maine by way of Los Angeles, Shanghai, New Delhi, New York, Montreal, and Kuwait. He further holds a BA in Comparative Literature and Art History from Williams College.