Adjunct Assistant Professor and Visual Arts alum Dana Lok '15 has been awarded an inaugural Liu Shiming Distinguished Educator Award. The award was established by the Liu Shiming Art Foundation to celebrate the critical and often underappreciated role of adjunct faculty—artists who balance independent studio work with the responsibility of shaping the next generation of visual artists.
As one of the award’s recipients, Lok will receive a $10,000 unrestricted grant. She will also be honored at the Liu Shiming foundation’s 2026 gala. This gala will mark 100 years since the passing of Liu Shiming.
Liu is thrilled to be a recipient of this year’s award. She shared, “I'm honored to be recognized by the Distinguished Educator award from the Liu Shiming Foundation. Working with Columbia's dedicated and insightful students, undergrad and grad alike, is a privilege. The inspiration I get from seeing a student's fresh discoveries in the classroom in Dodge or a studio in Prentis feeds my practice as a painter. I'm encouraged that this award specifically recognizes adjunct teachers. Adjunct faculty are instructors on part-time, short-term contracts, and teach a majority of undergraduate classes in our school. Colleges and universities everywhere rely on this kind of instructor, and I hope this award brings attention to adjuncts' integral role in higher education in the arts and humanities.”
Dana Lok is a visual artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her recent paintings and drawings imagine metaphors for how we create knowledge and draw conceptual schemes together. Solo exhibitions of her work include As Syllable from Sound at Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York (2024), Closer to the Metal, Clima, Milan (2023), One Second Per Second at PAGE, New York (2020); Mind’s Mouth at Bianca D’Alessandro, Copenhagen (2018); and The Set of All Sets at Chewday’s, London (2016). Group shows include Gravity, a proposal at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York (2022); Jahresgaben at Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany (2021); Regroup Show at Miguel Abreu Gallery (NYC) (2021); Fifteen Painters at Andrew Kreps Gallery (2021); and PAGE (NYC) at Petzel Gallery (2021).
