Common Questions
What does a USA Fellowship honor?
USA Fellowships honor and award an artist's unique vision as a whole rather than funding a particular project. Artists at different career levels, from emerging to established, are eligible.
How do I apply for a USA Fellowship?
To become a USA Fellow, one must be nominated. Each year USA invites arts leaders, critics, scholars, and artists to serve as nominators. They do this important work anonymously. All nominated artists are then invited to apply through a simple online application process.
Who are the nominators?
USA nominators are experts in the following fields:
- Architecture and Design
- Crafts and Traditional Arts
- Dance
- Literature (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry)
- Media (film, media, and radio)
- Music
- Theater Arts
- Visual Arts
Who serves on the selection panels that choose the USA Fellows?
Discipline-specific panels made up of leading artists and art experts select the program finalists. The USA Board of Directors approves the final recommendations.
Who provides the funding for USA?
Ford, Rockefeller, Prudential, and Rasmuson Foundations provided the initial seed funding of $20 million. A national campaign aimed at individuals, corporations, and foundations is currently under way to ensure the future of private support for America's finest artists.
Why $50,000?
USA provides funding to give artists the means to reflect upon and further develop their art. The USA Fellowships are meant to function as "research and development" funding or "venture capital," thereby encouraging recipients to test new ideas and applications in their work. This amount was also chosen to make a statement as to the importance we place on the work of artists in our culture. For perspective, $50,000 is a common entry-level salary for art college faculty in America today. We hope that this funding will enable some artists to pursue their creative work full-time.
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Marc Bamuthi Joseph
