Jennifer Huberdeau, features editor for The Berkshire Eagle, has won first place in the Society for Features Journalism’s 2026 Excellence-in-Features competition for Arts & Culture Criticism Portfolio.

The national contest drew close to 1,000 entries from journalists across the industry, according to the Society for Features Journalism. Sixty judges reviewed the entries across the competition, which recognizes feature writing, arts and entertainment coverage, criticism, narrative storytelling, food writing, special projects and other forms of feature journalism.

Huberdeau received the honor in Division 1, which recognizes newspapers with 50 or fewer full-time editorial employees, as well as magazines and web-only publications with a local, city or metro-area focus. The Arts & Culture Criticism Portfolio category honors three columns, essays or reviews by the same writer on arts and entertainment topics, excluding editorials.

Judges praised Huberdeau’s reporting and commentary for placing readers “immediately inside these stories.” They noted that, in each piece, “most viscerally with the preview of Steve Locke,” Huberdeau guides readers through physical exhibit spaces “as though she’s the curator.” Her interviews, judges wrote, “masterfully convey the intent and passion of the artists,” adding that “her art recommendations should not be missed.”

Huberdeau placed second in the same category in 2024.

The winning portfolio was a collection of reviews that examined major Mass MoCA exhibitions: