2014 United States Artists Fellows Announced
Artists receive $50,000 unrestricted grants across 8 disciplines
October 13, 2014 – United States Artists (USA) is pleased to announce the 34 new USA Fellows for 2014. Each artist or collaborative will receive an award of $50,000 to support his or her practice and professional development, opening up exciting creative possibilities through the transformative power of unrestricted financial support.
As one of the largest grant-making organizations in the country providing direct support to artists, USA spotlights the importance of originality across every creative discipline, from literature and performance to crafts and theater. Celebrating the breadth of American artistic practices from coast to coast, USA cultivates a creative ecology that is diverse in age, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. USA honors innovative, accomplished artists at all stages of their careers, who are nominated by their peers and field experts for the quality, imagination, and enduring potential of their work in the following disciplines: Architecture & Design, Crafts & Traditional Arts, Dance, Literature, Media, Music, Theater and Visual Arts. Awards are entirely unrestricted and may be used by Fellows in any way they choose.
The 34 recipients of this year’s awards were selected from 116 nominated artists living in the United States and Puerto Rico and were chosen by a panel of expert peers in each artistic discipline. “USA Fellowships are awarded to innovative artists of all ages and at all stages of their careers, who are nominated for their commitment to excellence and the enduring potential of their work,” said United States Artists CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram. “We are honored to present this year’s Fellows, a group of artists who were selected through a rigorous, highly competitive process. Our Fellows embody originality across every creative discipline, celebrating the broad range of artistic practices in every region of the county, and cultivating a creative ecology that is diverse in age, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.”
Founded in 2006 by the Ford, Rockefeller, Rasmuson and Prudential Foundations with $22 million to support artists in America, USA is currently funded by a broad range of philanthropic foundations and individuals. Since inception, through its signature USA Fellows program, USA has distributed $19.1 million in support to 405 artists. Past recipients of USA Fellowships include visual artists Glenn Ligon, Kara Walker, Theaster Gates and Catherine Opie; cartoonist Chris Ware; designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy (of Rodarte); performing artist Meredith Monk; jazz composer Jason Moran; ballet dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied; choreographer Bill T. Jones; and writer Sapphire.