The James and Audrey Foster Prize is key to the ICA’s effort to recognize, present, and acquire works by exceptional Boston-area artists. First established in 1999, the Foster Prize (formerly the ICA Artist Prize) expanded its format when the museum opened its Seaport building in 2006. James and Audrey Foster, passionate collectors and lifelong supporters of contemporary art, endowed the prize, ensuring the ICA’s ability to sustain and grow the program for years to come.  

The program has proven to be a springboard for many artists to have major museum exhibitions. The selection of artists for the James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition spans generations and results from sustained conversations with Boston’s community of working artists. In line with its goal to acquire works from the exhibition program, the ICA has acquired works by many Foster Prize recipients. 

Foster Prize History 

ICA Artist Prize Honorees

1999 – Ambreen Butt 

2000 – Laylah Ali 

2001 – Taylor Davis 

2002 – Alice Swinden Carter 

2003 – Douglas R. Weathersby 

2004 – Kanishka Raja 

Foster Prize Honorees

2006 – Jane D. Marsching, Kelly Sherman, Rachel Perry, Sheila Gallagher 

2008 – Andrew Witkin, Catherine D’Ignazio, Joe Zane, Rania Matar 

2010 – Amie Siegel, Daniela Rivera, Eirik Johnson, Evelyn Rydz, Fred Liang, Matthew Rich, Rebecca Meyers, Robert De St. Phalle, Steve Tourlentes,  

2013 – Katarina Burin, Luther Price, Mark Cooper, Sarah Bapst 

2015 – Kijidome (Sean Downey, Susan Metrican, Lucy Kim, and Carlos Jiménez Cahua), Ricardo De Lima, Sandrine Schaefer, Vela Phelan 

2017 – Jennifer Bornstein, Lucien Castaing-Tayor and Véréna Paravel, Lucy Kim, Sonia Almeida 

2019 – Helga Roht Poznanski, Josephine Halvorson, Lavaughan Jenkins, Rashin Fahandej 

2021 – Dell M. Hamilton, Eben Haines, Marlon Forrester 

2023 – Cicely Carew, Venetia Dale, Yu-Wen Wu 

2025 – Alison Croney Moses, Damien Hoar de Galvan, Sneha Shrestha (aka IMAGINE), Yorgos Efthymiadis