2026 marks the fourteenth year for the annual CODAawards program celebrating public art projects that demonstrate how artistic collaboration can transform environments, shape experiences, and strengthen community connections. Unlike traditional art awards that focus solely on the artist, these awards specifically honor the entire collaborative team – including commissioners, fabricators, as well as the creative art team. The CODAawards are followed internationally, garnering well-deserved recognition for the award winners.
Award winners have one thing in common: they submit stunning and interesting projects, featuring artwork commissions that showcase collaboration by creative professionals.
How can you make your entry stand out among a crowd of hundreds? CODAworx gleaned a few key insights on creating award-winning entries from the people who make the award decisions – the jurors.
We could reiterate, postulate, and extrapolate on the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but Barbara Tober, Chairman Emerita of the Museum of Arts and Design said it best:
“Your images are terribly important. Different views, beautifully lighted – It’s important to have a view of everything from all different angles.”
The winning entries are distributed to millions of people through hundreds of channels. It is essential that the accompanying images meet both the design qualifications (interesting subject matter, composition) and the press qualifications (as high-resolution as possible). We encourage you to consider those visual qualities that make your images eye-grabbing, expressive of the work’s intent and reflective of the work’s complexity.
You are encouraged to browse past winners to understand the quality of photographs required for a winning entry. For example, the photos provided for Skyhive are an outstanding example of how the 2024 CODAaward winner showed a variety of perspectives and close detail.
In your project descriptions (under the Overview, Goals, Process, and Additional Information sections), please take care to explain to the jury your goals for integrating artwork and describe the collaboration process of the design team. The jury seriously considers the description of the project. This is your opportunity to present the narrative of your work clearly and succinctly. We encourage you to help the jurors understand the project, collaboration process, and creativity involved and subsequently, become excited about a work after reading the project description.
Edward A. Hogikyan, Former Executive Director at NYCxDESIGN, offers additional insight into the value of the written description:
“For the description, be sure to answer the questions that are asked. What inspired the proposed concept? What are examples of any collaborative process used? What techniques/innovations were used in the creation of the work? Take the time to share your journey and process so the judges get a full appreciation for your work.”
Clearly articulating the goals of the project helps our jury to determine if the project was a success. The more explicit, the better. For example, a 2023 award winner, Above the Ploughman’s Highest Line, stacks of colored horizontal bands responded to the architecture of the building. The artist provided this statement: “A major goal was for the artwork to embody the spirit of the new building, incorporating themes of transformation, healing, and nurturing, in line with the health professions taught at the institution.”
Want to have the sharpest story? Parse your answers and carefully edit your writing. Have a colleague review your submission before you submit it. Even after submission, projects are editable until entries close on June 1.
The CODAawards center on the integration of art into space. Each winning entry will blend the art and design seamlessly to create a place as art, rather than a place with art.
Arts Consultant Debra Simon has curated location-driven art projects in several major cities. Her advice to those submitting projects for CODAawards is to describe how the work makes the physical location come alive. She encourages those submitting entries to explain how the art relates to the "place" and how it deepens the experience while engaging viewers in a way that connects with them emotionally.
“The strongest images of public art are those that show how people interact with and respond to the art. There is an authenticity when the connection is successful.”
An example is last year’s CODAawards winner Geist, a touring artwork designed for exhibition in the public realm. Part performance space and part data visualization device, the public interacts directly with Geist – all demonstrated by the photos submitted.
Outstanding CODAawards entries will fall in line with the emerging trend in the art and design world; artwork projects created in collaboration between artists, designers, architects, fabricators, clients and often, the ultimate users of the space.
The last piece of the puzzle, and the most difficult to grasp, is the x-factor of a project, the je ne sais quoi, the quality of a piece of work that leaves a distinct and lasting impression on anyone who experiences it. Your submission should convince the jurors that your work is timeless, memorable, and special.
Rosanne Somerson, former President of the Rhode Island School of Design, writes often about the value of art and its’ lasting role in improving the welfare of society.
“The most memorable projects invited participants to experience the creative impulse, the site, the realization, and the interaction in new and memorable ways.”
Good candidates for the CODAawards are not all things to all people, but rather meet a specific need or execute a concept especially well. The 2025 CODAawards winner Cloud Puncher connects an Oklahoma hotel’s second story event deck with a park below, creating a bold centerpiece for the space. The work highlights the site’s historical and cultural heritage while also offering a spectacular and contemporary creative reimagining.
As public art expands across infrastructure, immersive installations, experimental media, and temporary experiences, the most meaningful question is no longer where the work lives — it’s what the work is, and how it moves people. As CODAawards co-founder Ilene Shaw reminds us:
“Public art is a generous gift, an enormous responsibility and a very intimate expression on view for the world to see. If it is timeless it will meld into the substrate of the site. If it is a masterpiece, it will feel as if it has always belonged there.”
Thank you for reviewing these suggestions. We look forward to receiving your CODAawards entry!