Anina Major

Anina Major
Born1981 (age 44–45)
Nassau, Bahamas
EducationRhode Island School of Design (MFA, 2017)
OccupationsCeramicist, educator, visual artist
Awards2026 United States Artists Fellowship
Websiteaninamajor.com

Anina Major (born 1981, Nassau, Bahamas) is a Caribbean contemporary craft artist working primarily in ceramics. She was born in the Bahamas and lives and works between New England and New York City. Her work often touches on themes of postcolonialism, the transatlantic world, Caribbean aesthetics, and one's relationship to land. Major is a professor of ceramics at Bennington College, Vermont.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Anina Major was born in the Caribbean nation of the Bahamas. She grew up among the cultural traditions of weaving with natural fibers and learned from her grandmother the practice of Bahamian straw plaiting. Major received her Master of Fine Arts degree in 2017 from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence.[6]

Work

Anina Major's work is distinguished by the artist's craft technique of weaving on clay, which draws on West African designs and style.[7] Her ceramic work comments on issues of migration, identity, and geopolitics through crafts, particularly ceramics. Anina Major is a faculty member at Bennington College, Vermont, where she teaches ceramics.[4]

Her is included in the long-duration display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. In 2025, Anina Major was a finalist of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, a brainchild of fashion designer and then Loewe's creative director, Jonathan Anderson.[8] Major's work has been featured in the New York Times and Forbes Magazine.[1][9]

Collections

Major's work is included in the permanent collections of several global collecting institutions including the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; National Gallery of the Bahamas; Nassau; and Rhode Island School of Design Museum (RISD Museum); Rhode Island.[10][11]

Publications

  • Le Feuvre, Lisa. (2024) "Great Women Sculptors." London New York, NY: Phaidon. ISBN 978-1-83866-777-1.[12]

Awards

In 2026, Anina Major was a recipient of the acclaimed United States Artists Fellowship. Major was awarded a 50,000 dollars cash prize alongside other six fellow artists Edra Soto, Maia Chao, Mercedes Dorame, Macon Reed, Eric-Paul Riege,Raheleh Filsoofi.[13][14] She received The Armory Show Pomery Prize in 2024 for her installation "The Landing;" and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship in 2023.[15][2][9][16]

References

  1. 1 2 Archer, Sarah (2024-11-08). "From Basketry to Clay, the Bahamas to New York". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  2. 1 2 "In the Studio: Anina Major". Joan Mitchell Foundation. 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  3. ↑ "Anina Major: "I could speak to one of many, or be one of many"". www.impulsemagazine.com. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  4. 1 2 "Anina Major". Bennington College. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  5. ↑ "Anina Major: The Sacred Mangrove". pamm.org. Retrieved Apr 30, 2026.
  6. ↑ Meadows, interview by Simone Solondz / top photo by Blair. "Life After RISD: Checking in with Alum Anina Major | RISD". www.risd.edu. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  7. ↑ "Discover the work of Anina Major". LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  8. ↑ Hess, Liam (2025-05-30). "In Madrid, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize Has a Homecoming—and Opens a New Chapter". Vogue. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  9. 1 2 Gural, Natasha. "Bahamas-Born Visual Artist Anina Major Wins 2024 Pommery Prize At The Armory Show". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  10. ↑ "Hybrid No. 00105042021 | RISD Museum". risdmuseum.org. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  11. ↑ Museum, Brattleboro (2023-03-07). "Anina Major: I Land Therefore I Am | Brattleboro Museum & Art Center". Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  12. ↑ Clark, Olivia; Flint, Charlotte; Murphy, Maia; Le Feuvre, Lisa; Corry, Amie, eds. (2024). Great women sculptors. London ; New York, New York: Phaidon Press Limited. ISBN 978-1-83866-777-1. OCLC 1430973167.
  13. ↑ "Anina Major". United States Artists. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  14. ↑ Rabb, Maxwell (2026-01-14). "$50,000 USA Fellowships for 2026 awarded to 6 visual artists". Artsy. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  15. ↑ "Revealing the 2024 Prize Winners | The Armory Show". www.thearmoryshow.com. Retrieved 2026-04-08.
  16. ↑ "Anina Major". Joan Mitchell Foundation. 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
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