The American Academy of Rome has announced the 35 winners of this year’s Rome Prize.
photo by altrospazio
2025-2026 Rome Prize
On Wednesday, the American Academy in Rome revealed the 2025–26 winners of the esteemed Rome Prize, an annual honor given to U.S. artists and scholars for their contributions to the arts and humanities. We are proud to announce Professor Akima Brackeen, of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Architecture, is one of those winners!
There are 35 recipients of the Rome Prize this year. Each one will receive a stipend, workspace, and room and board at the Academy’s 11-acre campus on the Janiculum Hill in Rome, starting this fall.
The Rome Prize has historically been awarded across 11 disciplines: ancient studies, architecture, design, historic preservation and conservation, landscape architecture, literature, medieval studies, modern Italian studies, music composition, Renaissance and early modern studies, and visual arts.
In the 2025–26 cycle, the American Academy in Rome introduced a new pilot category—environmental arts and humanities—intended to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between artists and scholars. This initiative seeks to advance critical inquiry into the ways in which human beings engage with, interpret, and respond to the natural environment.
From a competitive applicant pool of 990 individuals representing 44 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and 17 countries, the final cohort was selected by juries composed of distinguished professionals in the arts and humanities. The acceptance rate for this cycle was 3.54%.
The American Academy of Rome has announced the 35 winners of this year’s Rome Prize.
photo by altrospazio