In the lead-up to its inaugural Houston edition at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Untitled Art is thrilled to announce the CAMH Commission Prize supported by Untitled Art—a new initiative developed with Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), one of the fair's esteemed cultural partners. This prize was created with a clear purpose: to provide meaningful support to artists through a major new commission to be presented at Untitled Art, Houston 2026, or through a collateral venue during the fair week.
 

 

To make this prize a reality, Untitled Art partnered with the Texas-based artist Vincent Valdez, who is not only one of the most vital and fearless voices in American art today, but the first artist to join the Host Committee for Untitled Art, Houston. In collaboration with Gary Lichtenstein Editions, Valdez has produced a limited-edition print titled It Was A Very Good Year (1986)—an elegant, urgent piece that draws from his continued exploration of the newspaper as both object and symbol. The edition, priced at $2,500, will be released in a print run of just 25 and proceeds from sales will go directly to CAMH to fund the prize.

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The selected artist(s) for the 2026 commission will be chosen by CAMH’s curatorial team from among more than 100 exhibiting artists who will participate in Untitled Art, Houston 2025. This ensures that the prize remains closely tied to the Houston arts ecosystem while also aligning with CAMH’s curatorial vision and Untitled Art’s mission to champion forward-thinking, socially engaged work.
 

 

This prize launch also aligns with Vincent Valdez: Just a Dream…, the artist’s first major museum survey, which debuted at CAMH and is now on view at Mass MOCA through March 2026. The exhibition spans over 20 years of Valdez’s practice—from early career drawings to recent allegorical portraits—celebrating everyday people from his family and the headlines dominating our political, psychological, and social connections.