Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize

Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize

The Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts is presented by the Arts at MIT to MIT students who demonstrate excellence in creating a body of work in the visual arts. All MIT undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to present a portfolio for consideration. An endowment fund provides the awards: First Prize: $5,000, Second Prize: $3,000, Third Prize: $2,000, Honorable Mention: $1,000. Prize recipients are expected to participate in the Schnitzer Prize Exhibition held in the Wiesner Student Art Gallery each spring. Learn more about the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Prize and submit an application on the Arts at MIT website.

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Harold and Arlene Schnitzer have had long and distinguished careers in business, in community service, and as patrons of and advocates for the arts. Mr. Schnitzer earned an S.B. in metallurgy at MIT in 1944 and joined his family business in Oregon for several years following military service. He married the former Arlene Director in 1949, and in 1951 founded Hirsch Investment Corporation, a real estate development firm with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The Schnitzers and their son Jordan have at various times held executive positions at Hirsch. In 1962, Mrs. Schnitzer started and managed Portland’s Fountain Gallery of Art, which came to be one of the leading galleries in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. and Mrs. Schnitzer have both served on numerous charitable and arts-related committees and boards.

Past Award Recipients

2022

  • Christopher Benton, G
  • Kwan Queenie Li, G
  • Irmandy Wickasono, G

2021

  • First Prize: Pohao Chi, G

2020

  • First Prize: Nicole L’Huillier, G

2019

  • First Prize: Guillermo Bernal, G

2018

  • First Prize: Andrea Ling, G

2017

  • First Prize: Ani Liu, G

2016

  • First Prize: Joshua Jest, G

2015

  • First Prize: Jenna Klein ‘15

2014

  • First Prize: Anne Macmillian, G

2013

  • First Prize: Jie Qi, G

2012

  • First Prize: Matthew Everett Lawson, G