2019
Fellows

Fellowships are $50,000 unrestricted awards recognizing artists for their contributions to the field, and allowing them to decide how to best support their lives.

The 2019 USA Fellowships were generously made possible by: Anonymous, Sarah Arison, Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Shawn M. Donnelley and Christopher M. Kelly, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Jack and Sandra Guthman, Ann M. Hatch, David Horvitz and Francie Bishop Good, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York Community Trust – Robert A. and Patricia Levinson Fund, Steven H. and Nancy K. Oliver, Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Fred and Eve Simon Charitable Foundation, The Todd and Betiana Simon Foundation, Paul and Annette Smith, Katie Weitz, PhD, Windgate Charitable Foundation, Helen Zell, and the USA Board of Trustees. | Press Release

 

 
Architecture
& Design
Erin Besler & Ian Besler
2019 USA Fellow
Architecture & Design

Erin Besler and Ian Besler

Architects and Designers
Princeton, NJ and Brooklyn, NY
Keller Easterling
2019 USA Fellow
Architecture & Design

KellerEasterling

Writer and Designer
New Haven, CT and New York, NY
Lucia Cuba
2019 USA Fellow
Architecture & Design

LuciaCuba

Designer and Textile Artist
New York, NY
 
Craft
 
Dance
 
Film
 
Media
 
Music
 
Theater & Performance
 
Traditional Arts
 
Visual Art
 
Writing
 

Panelists

  • Architecture & Design

  • Alexandra Cunningham Cameron
    Editor-in-Chief
    The Miami Rail
    Miami, FL
  • Sarah Herda
    Executive Director
    Graham Foundation
    Chicago, IL
  • Nader Tehrani
    Principal
    NADAAA
    Boston, MA
  • Craft

  • Joan Livingstone
    Senior Faculty, Fiber and Material Studies
    School of the Art Institute of Chicago
    Chicago, IL
  • Roberto Lugo
    2016 Fellow
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Jenni Sorkin
    Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture
    UC Santa Barbara
    Santa Barbara, CA
  • Dance

  • Glenn Edgerton
    Artistic Director
    Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
    Chicago, IL
  • Rosie Herrera
    2016 Fellow
    Miami, FL
  • Liz Lerman
    2011 Fellow
    Tempe & Phoenix, AZ
  • Film

  • Rhea Combs
    Curator of Film & Photography
    National Museum of African American History and Culture
    Washington, D.C.
  • Mimi Plauché
    Artistic Director
    Chicago International Film Festival
    Chicago, IL
  • Ryan White
    2014 Fellow
    Los Angeles, CA
  • Media

  • Tyler Greene
    Senior Manager, Event Production and Community Engagement
    WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
    Chicago, IL
  • Sarah Hromack
    Chief Culture Officer
    Kickstarter
    New York, NY
  • Roderick Schrock
    Director
    Eyebeam
    Brooklyn, NY
  • Music

  • Jason King
    Associate Professor and Academic Director of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
    New York University
    New York, NY
  • Eddy Kwon
    2016 Fellow
    Cincinnati, OH
  • Phil Rosenthal
    Vice President of Programming
    Long Center
    Austin, TX
  • Theater & Performance

  • Erin Boberg Doughton
    Artistic Director & Curator of Performance
    Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
    Portland, OR
  • Jacob Padrón
    Founder & Artistic Director
    The Sol Project
    New York, NY
  • Tanya Palmer
    Producer & Director of New Play Development
    The Goodman Theatre
    Chicago, IL
  • Traditional Arts

  • Da-ka-xeen Mehner
    2015 Fellow
    Fairbanks, AK
  • Mateo Mulcahy
    Director of Community Projects and Events
    The Old Town School of Folk Music
    Chicago, IL
  • Jennifer Heller Zurick
    2010 Fellow
    Berea, KY
  • Visual Art

  • Johanna Burton
    Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs
    The New Museum
    New York, NY
  • Julie Rodrigues Widholm
    Director and Chief Curator
    DePaul Art Museum
    Chicago, IL
  • Hamza Walker
    Executive Director
    LAXART
    Los Angeles, CA
  • Writing

  • Chris Abani
    2014 Fellow
    Chicago, IL
  • Abigail Wadsworth Serfass
    Managing Editor
    Kenyon Review
    Gambier, OH
  • Angel Ysaguirre
    Executive Director
    Illinois Humanities Council
    Chicago, IL

Titles and organizations reflect the moment in which the panels took place.