Stockton U. Student's Painting Heads To New York As Art Prize Finalist

GALLOWAY, NJ — A Stockton University senior from Egg Harbor Township has become the first student from the Galloway school to reach the finals of the AXA Art Prize U.S., a national competition for undergraduate and graduate figurative artists.

Sandy Hanna was selected as one of 40 finalists from nearly 600 submissions representing 132 schools, according to Stockton University. Her painting, “Our Lady, Queen of Palestine,” is on display at the New York Academy of Art through Nov. 19. The winner of the competition will be announced Nov. 5.

Stockton said Hanna is the only student from a New Jersey university among this year's finalists and one of 10 finalists who does not attend a major art school.

The annual competition is described as one of the nation's leading student art contests. The top 40 finalists are featured in a New York exhibition, and the winner receives a $10,000 prize. Exhibition jurors included curators from institutions such as MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“(Stockton Associate Professor of Art) Marianna Smith sent out an email that was like, this is a long shot. And I was like, ‘You know what, I might as well try,’” Hanna said.

Hanna said her submission was driven by the message behind the work.

“I’m so happy. I submitted my art not because I wanted anything out of it,” she said. “I had a message to share about what’s happening in Palestine right now and what it means to be a human. I wanted to create something new where people can have a way of being together.”

Smith said she was excited, though not surprised, that Hanna's work was chosen.

“She’s one of those honest, authentic, expressive artists. This is how she interfaces with the world,” Smith said. “She has a unique visual vocabulary and a vision as an artist. As a professor, it’s very exciting to see. It’s a gift to work with somebody like that.”

Hanna, the daughter of immigrants from Syria, said art has become a way to express emotion and create joy. She said grief over the suffering of Palestinians, especially women, strongly influenced the painting.

“It’s a painting of hope and optimism for the women that are suffering under this genocide and femicide right now,” she said. “I just wanted to channel it through my work instead of keeping it inside. It’s the only way I could express myself.”

Smith said Hanna's recognition could help raise Stockton's visual arts profile. She said she plans to bring senior students to the exhibition and hopes to build partnership opportunities with the New York Academy of Art.

“We really have a very strong faculty who are competitive with brand-name schools in larger cities,” she said. “We want to use this to activate our studio art program and engage with the students who are interested in private-school-quality instruction at a state school in the middle of the most beautiful woods.”

Hanna, meanwhile, said she hopes other students take encouragement from her experience and keep pursuing their own path in art.

“Create something new. Don’t be afraid to take on your own path, even if everybody else is doing the standard path. Feel free to take a path that doesn’t really make sense to everybody,” she said.