SFMOMA Announces Winners of 2026 SECA Art Award

Four Bay Area artists are the latest recipients of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s long-running SECA Art Award. The collaborative duo CrossLypka (Tyler Cross and Kyle Lypka), and solo artists Em Kettner and Chanell Stone will present their work in dedicated SFMOMA galleries for an exhibition that runs Dec. 12, 2026–May 30, 2027.

The awardees were selected by exhibition co-curators Alison Guh and Delphine Sims from a finalist pool of 16. (No one envies them this job.) The SECA Art Award, bestowed every two years, is meant to celebrate the work of local artists on their way to broader recognition. Like years past, the 2026 exhibition will be accompanied by a publication.

What should we expect from this year’s awardees?

CrossLypka’s airy ceramic work is made through a back-and-forth process as the artistic and life partners hand off their sculptures to each other step by step. In the Oakland artists’ freestanding and wall-hanging pieces, muted, drippy glazes are punctuated by pools of rich color. As for the shapes, expect nods to architectural ornamentation, Rorschach-like mirroring and satisfying shifts in texture.

Richmond-based Kettner, who shows with a gallery in Los Angeles, but only recently had her first Bay Area solo (at Rebecca Camacho Presents), has been working on small-scale sculptures and reliefs for over a decade. Using glazed ceramics, weaving and fine woodwork, Kettner creates vignettes of tender and lighthearted interdependence. Her artworks’ size — and delicacy — require close-up, near-private viewing.

And last, but not least, Stone’s black-and-white photography, often printed large-scale (96 by 80 inches!), finds poetic, quiet scenes in the midst of parks, gardens, backyards and other green spaces. Sometimes, the Oakland artist places herself in front of the camera. Other times, we see just footprints in a muddy riverbank. Stone’s work explores Blackness within the American landscape, moving between personal and historical spaces in a growing and beautiful catalog of images.

It’s a lot to look forward to. Fingers crossed the museum will maintain its tradition of making SECA shows free to visit.

The 2026 SECA Art Award exhibition will be on view Dec. 12, 2026–May 30, 2027 on the second floor of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (151 3rd St., San Francisco).