Meier Achievement Awards for 2025 Give Thanks

for Work of Eight Chicago Artists

Clarice Assad, Vanessa Filley, Tammy McCann, Maryse Meijer, Sherwin Ovid, Caesar Perez,

Galina Shevchenko and Deb Sokolow were recognized for innovation, past achievements, and community contributions.

The Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Charitable Foundation for the Arts today released the names of their 20^th Arts Achievement Awards.  Their Foundation recognizes Chicago-area artists in mid-career who push the artistic envelope.  This year, the Foundation is recognizing eight artists across various genres, totaling $320,000 in awards. The 2025 awardees are composer Clarice Assad, visual artist Vanessa Filley, singer Tammy McCann, author Maryse Meijer, painter Sherwin Ovid, visual artist Caesar Perez, visual artist Galina Shevchenko, and visual artist Deb Sokolow.

Clarice Assad brings new ways to connect performers and listeners, allowing them to experience music together fully. She is admired for bringing her Brazilian roots into modern classical music. She has released seven solo albums and appeared on or had her works performed on another 34. A multi-award-winning composer, she received her degrees in music from Roosevelt University and the University of Michigan. https://clariceassad.com

Vanessa Filley creates taut work, brimming with pent-up energy and complexity.  The details show the precision of her work.” Vanessa currently creates work with intricate patterns made of string.  Her evolution to new forms is just the kind of work that the Meier Foundation admires.

Tammy McCann’s life experiences have given her a demonstrated wide range of musical expression.  She’s made a rich artistic journey from gospel, opera, and jazz, which form the foundation of her miraculous voice. The Chicago Person of the year for Jazz in 2020, she has performed all over the world. Tammy is currently Artist in Residence for the Music Institute of Chicago.  https://www.tammymccann.com

Maryse Meijer, a novelist, describes herself as a “normal” person, yet her characters veer off in very unexpected and frightening directions.  We think that’s her point. Mayrse is the author of the story collections Heartbreaker, which was one of Electric Literature’s 25 Best Short Story Collections of 2016, and Rag, which was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Pick and a finalist for the Chicago Review of Books Award for Fiction, as well as the novella Northwood.  https://us.macmillan.com/author/marysemeijer

Sherwin Ovid paints in his own language, layered and deliberate.  He accumulates multiple materials in his paintings, including pigment, resin, bubbles and dirt, along with collage both physical and digital.  Sherwin Ovid works in painting and multiple media to create visual works that explore the interface between the built and natural world. He has his BFA from the School of the Art Institute and his MFA from the University of Illinois. https://www.sherwinovid.com

Caesar Perez is an urban contemporary artist working in sculptural fabrication, large-scale aerosol murals, and all manner of design. He has drawn on his traditional influences to push into new forms with new sculpture and fine art. https://czr-prz.com

Galina Shevchenko is a Moscow-born, Chicago-based multimedia artist. Her practice encompasses multiple modes of expression and image processing.  She portrays the female figure in all its possibility: “Monster/ Mother/Other: distorted, powerful, vulnerable, loving and procreating.”  She also comments on the impact of an upbringing in the Soviet Union.  Her work has been shown at numerous venues nationally and internationally.  http://www.galinashevchenkosequences.com

Deb Sokolow uses her art to draw the viewer in close and uses architectural renderings to style to send a very different message about our world – part blueprint, part conspiracy and part confession.  https://debsokolow.com

About the Meier Foundation:  The Meier Achievement Award provides a cash award to Chicago-area artists in music, theater, visual arts, literature and dance who are in mid-career and have demonstrated both talent and persistence in pursuing their craft.  Special emphasis is placed on overlooked or under-publicized talent who are “pushing the envelope,” that is, continuing to innovate, as well as encouraging community involvement.  The awards are determined by anonymous nominators and selected by the Foundation’s Board.

The awards are a gesture of gratitude and appreciation for the work already done.  There are no applications, no projects to submit, and no outcome measurements.  This follows founder and artist Tim Meier’s directive, “No strings.” Since 2006, the Foundation has given over 70 awards. For more information, see www.meierfoundation.org.