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United States Artists Announces 2009 Fellowships

The 55 winning artists (five were collaborative pairs) were chosen from among 348 applicants from 45 states.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 12/17/2009 12:00:00 AM

USA Fellowship 2009 Neil Denari The fifty winners of the 2009 United States Artists Fellowships have 50,000 new reasons to be happy.

The USA Fellows program, now in it's fourth year, once again awarded unrestricted grants of $50,000 to artists from eight creative discipline categories, including Architecture and Design, Crafts and Traditional Arts, and Visual Arts.

The 55 winning artists (five were collaborative pairs) were chosen from among 348 applicants from 45 states by panels of experts in the arts. The fellowships are awarded to artists of all career stages who demonstrate artistic excellence, unique artistic vision, and significant contributions to their fields.

Hailing from 18 states and ranging in age from 28 to 82, the winners included Neil Denari, Laura Kurgan, Rick Lowe, and Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy in the Architecture and Design category.

USA Fellowship 2009 Rick Lowe

Six winners were named in the Crafts and Traditional Arts category: Perry Eaton, Delores Lewis Garcia and Emma Lewis Mitchell, Beth Lo, Dona Look, Mary Shaffer, an Kukuli Velarde, a ceramicist who received an additional $5,000 for being named a USA Knight Fellow. An eye-popping $500,000 was awarded in the Visual Arts category to Diana Al-Hadid, Terry Allen, Vija Celmins, Anthony Hernandez, Joan Jonas, Kim Jones, Martin Mazorra and Michael Houston, Dave McKenzie, Judy Pfaff, and Dario Robleto.

"Artists fuel the nation's cultural vitality and illuminate the issues and complexities of our time," says USA board chair Susan Berresford. "Yet many of our country's finest artists struggle to make ends meet. Now more than ever we need a resource like United States Artists to invest in working artists and promote their contributions to society."

USA Fellowship 2009 Rick Lowe

The awards were announced at a December 14 celebration honoring the Broad Art Foundation's Eli and Edythe Broad, whose $1 million contribution was the first to support the USA Fellows Program when it launched in 2006. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation was also feted at the event, for their $1 million grant for artists who live in the 26 cities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Other USA donors include Michael Bloomberg, the Target Corporation, and the Wynn Family Foundation.

"In just four years, United States Artists has awarded $10 million to 213 artists across the country," adds USA executive director Katherine DeShaw. "These creative individuals are in turn contributing to their communities and producing art that inspires, provokes, and informs global audiences."

USA Fellowship 2009 Laura Kurgan USA Fellowship 2009 Kate Laura Mulleavy

Images from top: entry by Neil Denari, photo by Hayes Davidson; entry by Rick Lowe, photo by Danielle Miles; entry by Rick Lowe, photo by Danielle Miles; entry by Laura Kurgan; entry by Kate and Laura Mulleavy; all provided by USA Fellos program.