Chau’s contributions exemplify spirit of excellence

By Taylor Mayad

The Meadows Museum, SMU, announces that Du Chau has won the 2024 Moss/Chumley North Texas Artist Award. The award is given annually to an outstanding North Texas artist who has exhibited professionally for at least 10 years and has established a proven track record as a community advocate for the visual arts. The award brings a $3,000 cash prize.

Chau is a Dallas-based ceramic installation artist whose work is inspired by childhood memories and organic patterns. The repetition seen in his abstracted works signifies reoccurring memories and their importance. Utilizing clay and piano wire, Chau says his work “is anchored by allusions to fruit, herbs, and berries, deeply significant to his relationship with his parents and Vietnamese heritage.”

Du Chau has curated more than 50 national and international exhibitions. He is a co-founder of Goldmark Cultural Center and was essential in transforming Dallas office buildings into studio spaces. Chau has played a pivotal role in bringing resident artists to Goldmark Cultural Center and he helped create the Anthony Okonofua International Artist Residency. Additionally, Chau has led several artist lectures, talks and workshops both nationally and internationally.

“I am deeply grateful to the jury for choosing me to receive the 2024 Moss/Chumley Award,” Chau said. “This recognition is a profound honor, affirming my artistic path. I remain steadfast in my dedication to furthering the art world and supporting fellow artists.”

Chau’s works have been exhibited in several museums and galleries across the United States, including the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX; the Fodsick Nelson Gallery, Alfred, N.Y.; and Reeves House Visual Arts Center, Woodstock, Ga. His works are housed in the collections of the Alfred Art Ceramic Museum, Alfred, N.Y.; the University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas; and various other institutions. Chau’s work has been recognized with international residencies, including the 2017 NCECA International Residency Award and the 2016 Ceramics Residencies Exhibitions Teaching & the Arts (CRETA) Foundation residency. 

He was also a visiting scholar at the University of Port Harcourt and Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria in 2019.

Ashlyn Lee, assistant registrar for the Meadows Museum and jury member, stated: “Chau’s unwavering dedication to the North Texas art community is epitomized by his development of the Goldmark Cultural Center, which provides affordable artist studios to over 170 artists, as well as Chau’s profound impact in teaching emerging students at Dallas College’s Brookhaven campus for over two decades. Chau’s remarkable contributions exemplify the spirit of artistic excellence and community engagement that the Moss/Chumley Award celebrates.”

The Moss/Chumley Memorial Fund was created in 1989 by Frank Moss and the Meadows Museum as a tribute to Jim Chumley; Moss’s name was added to the fund upon his death in 1991. Moss and Chumley were two Dallas art dealers who made outstanding contributions to the visual arts in North Texas during the 1980s. The pair operated the Nimbus Gallery on Routh Street from 1980 to 1987 and the Moss/Chumley Gallery at the Crescent Court from 1986 to 1989, where they showcased numerous new artists.

Established in 1995, the Moss/Chumley Artist Award is given in their memory. The award — which carries a cash prize of $3,000 — is open to artists working in any medium who live in one of the eleven North Texas counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise.