Whitney Biennial, one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in the United States, announced its curators for the 2026 exhibition in early August — University of Wisconsin alumni Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer. 

Jill Casid, who is a professor of visual studies at UW and Guerrero’s mentor, commented on the specialty of the nomination. 

“I don’t know of another Whitney Biennial that has had curators who were both trained, at least in part, at the same institution,” Casid said.

This is the first time a Whitney Biennial is being curated by two curators trained at the same institution, Casid said. This marks a notable achievement for the art history department, which is celebrating its centennial next year. 

Sawyer is an art historian and curator who received a BA in art history at UW before pursing an MA and PhD in art history at Columbia University. He was appointed Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art in May of last year. 

In the past, Sawyer has been responsible for curating exhibitions such as “Mark Armijo Mcknight: Decreation” in 2024, “Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines” in 2023 and “Suneil Sanzgiri: Here the Earth Grows Gold” in 2023. He is know for curating “Jimmy DeSana: Submission” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum which explored the late Jimmy DeSana’s work on surrealism, sexuality, identity and the power dynamics which go with it. 

Guerrero is also an art historian and curator. Presently she is the DeMartini Family Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She received her PhD in art history from UW and later went on to work for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Soon she would find her place at Whitney Museum as the first curator in the museum to focus solely on Latinx art. 

She is famously known for curating the exhibit “no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria” to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the devastating hurricane Helena which hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017. Her other widely known exhibitions include “Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945” and “Pacha, Llaqta, Wasichay: Indigenous Space, Modern Architecture, New Art.”

Together, the two curators can be expected to make a statement which reiterates the prominence of Whitney Biennial and its ability to draw the attention of the world, Casid said. 

“I am imagining a Whitney Biennial that really makes a statement,” Casid said. “It is going to reinforce the importance of the Whitney Biennial as a statement-maker in the field.”

Sawyer and Guerrero are going to travel around the world as they begin their preparations, according to the New York Times. Climate change might be a subject included in the exhibition. 

Casid explained the role a UW education might play in the way Sawyer and Guerrero define the 2026 Whitney Biennial. Art in the United States can be exclusive sometimes, according to Casid. The story of American art is sometimes native, exclusionary, sexist, imperialist and exclusionary in many other ways, making it really important to understand the various sources of beliefs and rethink the arts and cultures from time to time.

“[Art] is often exclusionary in many ways. It is important to not only learn where we are but also to think where we must go and exhibitions are a powerful way of portraying that vision,” Casid said. “We train students to think where the field needs to go.”

Exhibitions are the perfect way to do this, and are sometimes more influential than other sources of media. 

“The power of the exhibition lies in how it can really shift how we see and understand,” Casid said. “You are putting people in a full-bodied, deep sensory experience and allowing them to feel it.

It is this power to influence the world and make a statement that makes the Whitney Biennial as important and relevant as it is and gives strength to its curators. In the past, the Whitney Biennial has been a place where such boundaries of exclusion took the stage but also the place where they were broken down. Sawyer and Guerrero, as the curators of a Whitney Biennial, can be expected to do the latter. 

As Sawyer and Guerrero set off to curate the 2026 Whitney Biennial and make their mark on the exhibit, they were invited by the UW Art History Department to a symposium in celebration of the department’s centennial year. Sawyer and Guerrero are expected to speak in Madison in February of 2025. 

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include Marcela Guerrero’s correct title, which is DeMartini Family Curator.