A.rt R.esources T.ransfer is thrilled to announce Joseph Grigely as our twelfth annual artist honoree.

In 2026, A.R.T. is honoring Joseph Grigely by distributing 25,000 free art books to 625 public libraries, schools, and prisons in his name. A.R.T. will also produce an online teaching guide in our Reading Resources series that shares his methods and ideas among students and readers.

Joseph Grigely’s practice transforms material traces of communication—handwritten notes, documents, and publications—into installations probing how language, memory, and social exchange are shaped through their physical supports, especially in the absence of hearing. His sustained engagement with books, publications, and archival collections activates the library as a living site of artistic inquiry, where literacy becomes not only a mode of reading but a way of assembling memory and public life.

As A.R.T.'s 2026 honoree, Joseph Grigely follows Adrian Piper, Julie Ault, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Luis Camnitzer, Walid Raad, Studio K.O.S., Kara Walker, Roni Horn, Lawrence Weiner, Glenn Ligon, and Martha Rosler.