Artist Alpana Mittal is recipient of 2026 International Prize: The Universal Genius - tribute to Leonardo da Vinci
Bayonne artist's work highlighted at Effetto Arte Foundation’s booth for NYC Art Expo 2026
By Chilltown Blues
When Bayonne, NJ resident Alpana Mittal, aka Tejaswini, was awarded with “The Universal Genius: Tribute to Leonardo da Vinci” award by Effetto Arte Fondazione, an art foundation in Italy, she was unable to attend the ceremony in Milan, in which the recipients gathered at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci (Italy’s National Museum of Science and Technology).
But Mittal was able to attend the 2026 NYC Art Expo this past weekend, April 10-12, where her work was on display at Effetto Arte’s booth.
“I’m truly honored and deeply grateful to receive this prestigious international award from the Fondazione Effetto Arte in Italy,” Mittal said. “It still feels a bit surreal, and I’ve needed time to fully take it in ... This recognition means so much to me and inspires me to continue growing, creating, and sharing my artistic journey. Thank you, (Effetto Arte Foundation), for this incredible honor.”
Mittal didn’t apply for this award. Effetto Arte’s team searches for artists and found Mittal’s profile on the Pro Arts (artists membership community) website and looked for more on her work online, she told Chilltown Blues.
Learning more about the award was fascinating, Mittal said. “It was a tribute to famous artist Leonardo da Vinci.”
da Vinci is a central figure in Italy’s “High Renaissance,” and as much for the visual/metaphorical aesthetics of his work, which has been characterized as having a humanism distinct in all people portrayed despite being produced in a time/place where most artists worked for “pious” wealth, da Vinci’s broad intellectual curiosity seems to embody Effetto’s hopes to “counteract the intellectual flattening of our time.
“Especially in this historical moment, art needs spaces of maximum participation so that even the general public can take part in it,” they write on the English version of their website, www.effettoarte.net/?lang=en.
