Althea Murphy-Price’s (b. 1979 San Jose, CA) variable practice often involves printmaking, photography, and sculpture. The inherent duality of print provides a platform to explore these characteristics under the lens of deception. Motifs of race, hair culture, and feminine identity serve as tools of decoration. Bright colors, shiny surfaces, texture, and dimensional forms extend off the page in a suggestion of play, celebration, and analysis. Her works have been exhibited in Spain, Paris, China, Italy, and Sweden. She is included in public collections such as Thrivent, the Cleveland Arts Clinic, the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Huntsville Museum of Art, and The British Museum. Murphy-Price lives in Knoxville TN and is a Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee since 2010. She received her BA in Fine Art from Spelman College, her MA in Printmaking and Painting from Purdue University and her MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University.

“My recent work explores three primary themes: achievement, protection, and decoration. Participation Award was inspired by unacknowledged effort. The piece presents a formal, gridded background upon which a colorful arrangement of flat ribbon shapes is carefully organized, appearing to dangle from an armature-like structure. The colors within the collaged elements reference awards given for lowest performance, subtly questioning how we assign value and recognition. I fully embrace the flatness of color and the spatial shapes created through screenprint and collage, allowing their deliberate two-dimensionality heightens the meaning of the dimensional.” 

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Participation Award, 2026
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Screenprint, Fabric Sublimation, Foil
Hahnemuhle, 300gsm
Sheet Size: 31.5 x 24 in
Edition of 26

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$1800
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Published February 2026