RISD Museum announces 2026 Dorner Prize recipient Khalil McKnight

The RISD Museum announced Khalil McKnight (RISD Painting, 2027) as the recipient of the 2026 Dorner Prize, the museum’s annual juried competition supporting student artists in the creation of site-specific work. McKnight’s winning proposal, The Observer, is a performance that will unfold within the museum’s Grand Gallery, offering a critical lens on institutional space, access, and presence. Selected by jurors Gabrielle Walker, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Curatorial Assistant, and Michael Demps, Associate Professor in RISD’s Experimental and Foundation Studies, McKnight’s project centers on a series of live performances in which the artist inhabits the role of a museum visitor. Wearing a garment constructed from repurposed black hoodies, drawing inspiration from Egungun and New Orleans masquerade traditions, McKnight silently moves through the galleries while making written assessments