Project for Empty Space is excited to host its annual fête, the Badass Art Woman Awards, on November 17, 2026, from 6:30 - 11 PM at 172 Norfolk Street, NYC. This year’s theme is Constellations, inspired by the stellar work each Honoree does in supporting our cultural ecosystem.
BAWA brings together more than 300 philanthropists, museum leaders, curators, collectors, art lovers, artists, cultural workers, and friends of the organization for an evening of celebration, exchange, and shared commitment to the artists and visionaries shaping more expansive futures.
Constellations takes inspiration from the radiant networks that make artistic futures possible: a constellation of leaders, artists, mentors, cultural workers, and badass women whose brilliance helps others find their way.
This year’s BAWA celebrates collective light by honoring Jean Cooney, Executive Director of Creative Time; Kristina Newman-Scott, Vice President of Arts at Knight Foundation and Komal Shah, Founder of Making Their Mark Foundation. Together, they illustrate how leaders, advocates, and visionary women can illuminate the path for so many others.
Proceeds from the 2026 Badass Art Woman Awards help us support and sustain the 60+ critical exhibitions and public programs we organize each year—serving a community of over 250,000 direct audience members across four exhibition spaces, having exhibited more than 450 artists to date, running an arts residency building with more than 65 artists studios, and having awarded more than half a million dollars in grants and stipends to participating artists.
OUR STELLAR 2026 HONOREES
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JEAN COONEY
Executive Director
Creative Time -
KRISTINA NEWMAN-SCOTT
Vice President of Arts
Knight Foundation -
KOMAL SHAH
Founder
Making Their Mark Foundation
Jean Cooney is an arts administrator and cultural producer with over 14 years experience leading ambitious public art programs in New York City. Currently, she is the Executive Director of Creative Time, a non-profit public arts organization with a fifty-year legacy of commissioning site-specific public projects by artists who are shaping the dialogues, debates, and dreams of our times. Previously, Jean served as the Vice President of Arts and Culture for the Times Square Alliance and the Director of Times Square Arts, working with hundreds of artists to engage the district’s broad and diverse audiences through sculpture, installations, performance, and the Midnight Moment program, on view nightly across Times Square’s iconic billboards. In Times Square, Jean led commissions by artists including Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw, Pamela Council, Charles Gaines, Yvette Mayorga, Shantell Martin and Thomas J Price.
Prior to Times Square Arts, Jean spent seven years at Creative Time supporting major artist commissions in landmark sites across New York City (and once in outer space), including Phil Collins’ Bring Down The Walls, Duke Riley’s Fly by Night, Nick Cave’s HEARD•NY and Kara Walker’s A Subtlety. Jean holds a M.A. in Visual Arts Administration from New York University, and a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University.
Kristina Newman-Scott is an award-winning, purpose-driven leader with more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of arts, culture, and media. As Vice President of Arts at Knight Foundation, she shapes bold initiatives that position the arts as essential civic infrastructure and a catalyst for vibrant, equitable communities.
Previously, Kristina served as the inaugural Executive Director of The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at New York Public Radio/WNYC, where she reimagined its live and multi-platform programming. She was also President of BRIC, one of Brooklyn’s leading arts and media organizations, and Director of Culture for the State of Connecticut.
Her leadership and impact have been widely recognized. She has been named to City & State New York’s Telecommunications Power 50, the Observer NYC Arts Power 50, and Next City’s Urban Vanguard. She is the recipient of the Selina Roberts Ottum Award from Americans for the Arts and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of New Haven, Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.
Kristina currently serves on the boards of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), YoungArts, and as Chair for Americans for the Arts.
Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Kristina began her career as a practicing artist and television and radio host before moving to the U.S. in 2005. Across every role, she brings a deep commitment to championing artists, strengthening cultural ecosystems, and advancing the role of the arts in building thriving communities.
Originally from Ahmedabad, India, Komal Shah migrated to the US in 1991 to study computer science in California. After completing her Masters at Stanford, she earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, eventually holding positions in the executive suites of Oracle, Netscape, and Yahoo. In 2008, Shah left the tech industry to focus on philanthropic pursuits. She then began developing the Shah Garg Collection with her husband and tech entrepreneur Gaurav Garg, solidifying a vision for the collection’s emphasis on women artists in 2014. Today, they are focused on amplifying the voices of women artists through the Making Their Mark Foundation.
Formerly known as the Shah Garg Foundation, the Making Their Mark Foundation supports scholarship and public engagement highlighting the achievements and innovations of women artists. Through a wide range of projects and partnerships with educational institutions, arts organizations, and arts leaders, the Foundation works to bring greater recognition to art by women and to rectify the underrepresentation of women in public collections, exhibitions, and art historical narratives.
To explore sponsorship opportunities, alternative payment methods, or if you have any questions, please contact Lucia Roldan at lucia@projectforemptyspace.org
The Badass Art Woman Award (BAWA) emerged organically one day while chatting with several other cultural practitioners in our circle at an event. We noticed a general homogeneity in the types of people who are recognized in large institutional spaces. It was very apparent that many of the women cultural workers in our industry; particularly those who cross over multiple roles beyond artists (ie curators, gallerists, academics, writers, etc.), are often overlooked. Of course, there are occasions when women in the art world transcend into the mainstream realm; however, those instances are far too few. We wanted to create an award that brought in a true sense of celebration and joy- a ‘badass’ celebration! Thus, BAWA was born. A celebration of women who do phenomenal work within the Contemporary Art world.