Nominations are now open for the biennial Paul Ré Peace Prize at the University of Mexico (UNM), with electronic submissions due by 5:00 p.m. on February 20, 2026, ahead of the May 21, 2026 award.
According to UNM News, the Paul Ré Peace Prize honors a university faculty or staff member, student, alumnus, volunteer, or retiree who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to promoting peace, harmony, and global understanding through tangible works. Qualified contributions may take place at the local, regional, national, or international level and emphasize both internal and external peace, as well as dialogue around what truly constitutes peace.
The award recipient may be an artist or an individual from any field who has advanced peace and harmony through creativity and dedication. Possible projects include environmental initiatives, social or individual healing, integrative medicine, sustainable energy, artistic creation or preservation, family planning, and other positive endeavors. The award places a strong emphasis on conflict prevention while also recognizing conflict resolution.
The Paul Ré Peace Prize comprises a check, commemorative artwork by Paul Ré, specially inscribed copies of his acclaimed books The Dance of the Pencil and Art, Peace, and Transcendence, and an award reception. Ré’s latest volume, Art, Peace, and Transcendence: Réograms that Elevate and Unite, received the New Mexico – Arizona Book Award for Philosophy and is available at UNM Press.
“The Peace Prize is meant to further the work of the recipient, but may also be used to create direct executions of or new interpretations of peace and harmony from Paul Ré’s original designs and/or his writings; for example, an extension of his widely shown exhibit of Touchable Art for the Blind and Sighted,” according to paulre.org/peace.
It was stated in the Peace Prize Vision Statement by Paul Ré that he believes that people can greatly improve the world by encouraging and preserving the good in life – wisdom, beauty, insight, humor that enlightens – and using these positive forces to heal discord. “This requires the integration and synergy of many fields – from art and science to engineering and philosophy – plus communication and common sense.”
The 2024 Winner of the Paul Ré Peace Prize was Katie Stone, Executive Director of the New Mexico nonprofit, The Children’s Hour Inc., and a volunteer producer of The Children’s Hour for more than 17 years at KUNM before the show went into national syndication.
Who is Paul Ré?
Paul Ré is an internationally recognized artist, writer, poet, and peace worker known for promoting world peace and harmony through his masterful creations. Born in 1950 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he still resides, Ré earned a Bachelor’s degree in physics with honors from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1972; this has served him well as an artist expressing the beauty of science.
He is best known for his book The Dance Of The Pencil: Serene Art by Paul Ré, his widely shown traveling exhibit of Touchable Art for the Blind and Sighted, and most recently for the Paul Ré Peace Prize administered by the UNM Foundation. This has been endowed to operate in perpetuity and extends his five decades of work promoting harmony in the world through art.
“Beyond the joy of creating the art itself, Ré’s greatest reward is when people are moved by his work towards peace and fulfillment,” paulre.org wrote.