The Inaugural Class of 2028
Eight laureates. To be revealed April 22, 2028.
Eight places, still empty
There are no past laureates. The first will be named on April 22, 2028. Somewhere, the eight of them are already at work, and most have no idea.
Laureate 2028
Laureate 2028
Laureate 2028
Laureate 2028
Laureate 2028
Laureate 2028
Laureate 2028
Laureate 2028
2028
Why 29
On Easter Sunday 1999, John Paul II wrote to the artists of the world. He asked them for beauty that would stir generations still to come to wonder.
The first ceremony falls in 2028, twenty-nine years after John Paul II wrote to artists on Easter Sunday 1999. So the Awards are open to artists aged twenty-nine and under: every laureate will be younger than the Letter itself.
The Institute exists to meet that generation: to hear first works with the attention usually saved for masterpieces, and to tell young artists, early and publicly, that their vocation matters.
“Faced with the sacredness of life and of the human person, and before the marvels of the universe, wonder is the only appropriate attitude.”John Paul II, Letter to Artists, ¶16