POP Artist Showcase

2026 POP Artist Showcase Awardees Announced!

Each year the Professional Outreach Program (POP) showcases two wood artists at the AAW's annual International Symposium. They are either experienced artists who have made significant contributions to the woodturning field but have not received appropriate recognition, or emerging artists who have the potential to make significant contributions to the field.

The POP committee is proud to announce the 2026 Artist Showcase awardees: Janine Wang and Matthew Shewchuk. They will be displaying their work, presenting a talk on their practices, and demonstrating at the AAW Symposium. Through the generosity of the Maxwell-Hanrahan Foundation, they will each receive a $2000 cash award.

Past Artist Showcase awardees have included Rex Kalehoff, Lorin Bruckin, Kevin Jesequel, Heather Marusiak, Elizabeth Weber, Nicole MacDonald, Melissa Engler, Eli Polite, Roberto Ferrer, Laurent Niclot, Helga Winter, Sally Burnett, Kristin LeVier, Jim Sannerud, Keith Holt, Louise Hibbert, and others.

About the Artist Showcase Program

Each year the Professional Outreach Program (POP) showcases two wood artists at the AAW's annual International Symposium. They are either experienced artists who have made significant contributions to the woodturning field but have not received appropriate recognition, or emerging artists who have the potential to make significant contributions to the field. The selected artists will give two demonstrations each at that year's AAW Symposium, and participate in a panel discussion of their work. Artists receive a $2000 cash award, complimentary Symposium registration; a featured display in the Special Exhibitions area; demonstration and panel compensation ($225 per rotation, $125 panel); three days of lodging at the AAW host hotel, and up to $300 in travel expenses.

The AAW and POP are grateful for the support of the Maxwell-Hanrahan Foundation for making the award possible.

Applications are open March 1 to June 30th. To receive notice of this opportunity and other POP exhibition or grant opportunities as applications open, please sign up here.

If you have questions about the Artist Showcase program, please contact Sally Burnett, sally@sallyburnett.co.uk or Tib Shaw, tib@woodturner.org. If you are having technical issues, please contact Tib, tib@woodturner.org.

Awardee Videos & Articles