Aimé Iglesias Lukin receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Curatorial Work for her leadership on the art of the Americas, and her focused initiatives to achieve recognition for historically underrepresented migrant and women artists. This intent is grounded in her own experience as a woman born in Argentina, living and working in the United States. 

“A common effect of dislocation is that migrants feel like they don’t have a space, and a similar feeling reigns among women. My projects aim to present a diversity of identities for audiences to feel represented by and learn from.” 

She doesn’t have just one way of developing an exhibition. For Iglesias Lukin, it all depends on the type of art—because different pieces and types of work need different approaches. For example, solo exhibitions with living artists require time and space for the curator to build trust and a relationship with the artist. While respecting the artist’s history, Iglesias Lukin aims to push for new readings and new ways of showcasing their work. With more thematic group exhibitions, the challenge is to avoid letting the curatorial idea overshadow each artwork’s message. 

In all of these cases, Iglesias Lukin is guided by one principle: putting the art and its audiences first, with the aim of building meaningful connections between artists and viewers. 

Iglesias Lukin’s premiere exhibition for the Americas Society highlighted the influence of Latin American migrants on the neo-avant-garde movements of 1960s and 1970s New York. This Must Be the Place: Latin American Artists in New York 1965-1975 brought together a generation of artists who actively participated together in experimental artistic movements, while pushing forward their own visual languages and ideas. Through the presentation of video art, painting, and archival material, This Must Be the Place captured the broad spectrum of this artistic canon, and serves to inform future investigations. The exhibition and the accompanying book were hailed by the New York Times for their exploration of topics including migration, identity, politics, exile, and nostalgia.

Awards & Accomplishments

Center for Curatorial Leadership Fellow (2024)
National Endowment for the Arts (2022)
Chester Dale Art History Fellowship, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2017-18),
Terra Summer Residency Fellowship in Giverny, France (2019)
Peter C. Marzio Award from ICAA at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2013)