Dia Art Foundation and Sam Gilliam Foundation announced that Sheela Gowda has been selected to receive the Award, which includes a $75,000 gift and the presentation of a public program in New York on 20th November, 2025. Established in 2023 by a generous gift from the Sam Gilliam Foundation and Annie Gawlak, president of the foundation and Gilliam’s widow, the award is granted annually over 10 years to an artist working anywhere in the world who has made a significant contribution in any medium and for whom the award would be transformative. 

Born in 1957 in India, Bengaluru-based Gowda works with a variety of media and material, which are often presented as installations. Not only at the level of imagery but also while testing her own conceptions and pre-conceptions, work by work, Sheela is enquiring into cultural, societal materials and what they could be saying beyond their everyday presence and function. Her work has been exhibited at many prestigious museums and art exhibitions in India and abroad.  She was awarded the grant due to her decades-long, consistently ambitious, and expansive practice. 

Discover more about her practice and the award here.