The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers presents the Alumni Achievement Award to alumni of the Scholastic Awards who’ve forged their own paths in their careers. From artists to writers to astronomers to teachers, Scholastic Awards alumni have been leaders in their fields since the beginning of the Awards. This year, we’re proud to honor Derek Fordjour, an interdisciplinary artist, art professor, and Scholastic Awards alumnus.

Derek Fordjour (b. 1974) was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to parents of Ghanaian heritage. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues, including the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, the Nasher Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art. He has received commissions for public projects including a permanent installation for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York City at the 145th Street subway station and the Whitney Museum Billboard Project. He was the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling Artist-in-Residence in 2016–17, was accepted into the 2017 Sharpe Wallentas Studio Program in New York City, and was given the 2018 Deutsche Bank NYFA Fellowship Award. He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and he earned a Master’s degree in Art Education from Harvard University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Hyperallergic. He has also been featured in several publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and Forbes magazine. He was recently appointed to the Alex Katz Chair at Cooper Union and serves as a Core Critic at Yale University School of Art. His work also appears in several collections, including those of the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, the Perez Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Derek received his Scholastic Award in 1992 along with a scholarship sponsored by Strathmore.

Image credit: Chase Hall