Westbrook sculptor Veronica Perez has won a $25,000 Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Visual Artist Fellowship. The award includes a solo exhibition at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland.

In a news release announcing the award, Perez said, “Receiving this award is such a wonderful and welcome surprise, especially in a time where the world is hurting. It’s not only enabling me to continue my practice as an artist and activist – but folks see things in me and my work that I can’t even see myself. Things like this fellowship are HUGE reminders to trust yourself and keep pushing forward even when things get dark. I am utterly grateful to the jurors and the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation for their support.”

The Ellis-Beauregard Foundation was founded in 2015 by artists Joan Beauregard and David Ellis in Rockland with a mission of providing resources for artists, engaging with the community and promoting the legacy of the founding artists. Previous winners of the fellowship are Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen Nguyen, Erin Johnson, and Reginald Burrows Hodges.

Jurors for the award were Jennie Goldstein, assistant curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; Alison Hearst, associate curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas; and Kyle Dancewicz, director of exhibitions and programs at the Sculpture Center in New York City.

Perez did her undergraduate work at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia and earned her master’s at Maine College of Art in Portland.

Donna McNeil, executive director of the foundation, called Perez “an artist of quiet dedication, both to her artwork and to social justice. I expect to see her continue to refine and grow in all ways as she receives continued validation for her efforts.”