The Smithsonian Women’s Committee 2026 Delphi Award will be presented to prominent ceramic artist Cristina Córdova during the 2026 Smithsonian Craft Show Visionary Award Reception Wednesday, April 22, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Córdova is a contemporary artist and instructor who will be recognized for her contributions to the field of figurative ceramics.
Córdova grew up in Puerto Rico and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Puerto Rico and a Master of Fine Arts from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Her sculptures are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, and the Mint Museum in North Carolina, among others. Her awards and honors include the Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Craft and the Herbert Adams Memorial Medal from the National Sculpture Society. In 2022, she published Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay with Quarry Books.
According to the documentary Craft in America, “Each piece represents our shared humanity while confronting contemporary issues of gender, race, beauty and power, and inviting the viewer’s participation.”
Córdova has shared her expertise through workshops and residencies at institutions around the world, including Harvard University and the Australian National University. In 2022, she founded the Center for the Study of Figurative Ceramics in North Carolina, an educational platform dedicated to advancing the study and practice of sculpting the human figure in clay.
The Smithsonian Women’s Committee gives the Delphi Award to mid-career American artists who demonstrate distinction, creativity and exceptional artistry in their work, and who are predicted by experts in the field to someday reach the pinnacle of sculptural arts and design. Previous winners are Stephen Young Lee, Roberto Lugo, Amber Cowan and Norwood Viviano.
For additional information, contact Heidi Austreng at (202) 633-5006 or austpr@si.edu.