The National Sculpture Society (NSS) awards Sergei Isupov the 2026 Alex J. Ettl Grant. The Ettl Grant is presented annually to sculptors who have demonstrated a commitment to sculpting and an outstanding ability in their body of work. It consists of an unrestricted cash prize of $5000 and a certificate. This year, NSS Fellows Welsey Wofford, Meredith Bergmann and Steven Whyte served as jurors.

Meredith Bergmann says, “Isupov’s work delights and dazzles with its compressed narratives, celebrating the possibilities of polychrome by incorporating painting onto and into sculpture with exquisite skill and exuberant imagination.” Wesley Wofford feels that Isupov “is a master at capturing the subtlety and nuance of the human condition. His work is captivating through both technical and emotional lenses. The almost graphite feeling of the details, intermingled with the exaggerated features and vibrant colors, bring life to individual souls. Isupov invites the viewer to connect with the sculptures as we connect with each other. He celebrates the diversity of humanity while creating a distinctive connective bridge.” Steven Whyte is struck by Isupovs’s “practiced skill” and by his “confident and consistent point of view.” He adds, “Isupov creates the kind of work where you are always discovering something new. I look forward to seeing what he creates next.”

Isupov has an impressive international resume with work in the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA); de Young Museum (San Francisco, CA); Museum of Arts + Design (New York, NY); Museum of Contemporary Ceramics (Summe, Ukraine) and the Norwegian Museum of Art (Trondheim, Norway). In 2001, Isupov was an award winner in the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation’s Biennial Competition. He has had solo exhibitions at District Clay Center (Washington, DC); Bridgewater State University (Bridgewater, MA); Thorne Sagendorph Gallery (Keene, NH); Ferrin Contemporary (North Adams, MA) and The Museum of Russian Art (Minneapolis, MN).

First awarded in 1989, the grant is named for Alex J. Ettl (1898 – 1992), the owner of Sculpture House, a sculpture tool manufacturer and a fine art foundry. The award will be presented on May 16, 2026, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut at the Honors and Awards Dinner. The dinner is part of the National Sculpture Society’s larger Sculpture Celebration with events on May 15th and May 16th.