United Artist Announces 2018 Fellows

United States Artists Announces 2018 Fellows Pictured above, clockwise: My Barbarian (Alexandro Segade, Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon), Tarell Alvin McCraney, Cassils. The Chicago-based United States Artists (USA) has selected its annual fellowship class of 45 artists and collaboratives, across disciplines and selected from all corners of the United States, who each receive an unrestricted $50,000 grant A Grant For the 21st Century   Established in response to the shuttering of the National Endowment for the Arts’ individual artist grants after the culture wars of the 1990s, the grants’ unrestricted nature is intended to provide artists the financial freedom to experiment and grow in ways that might otherwise have been impossible. This year's winners include  five-time Grammy Award-winner Terence Blanchard, performance artist Bill Shannon, Moonlight scribe Tarell Alvin McCraney, multidisciplinary artist Dread Scott, podcast pioneer Starlee Kine, architect Amanda Williams, and sculptor Vanessa German, among many others. The winners were selected by genre-specific panels of experts from more than 500 artists nominated by their peers, then confirmed by USA’s board. Past USA Fellows include poet Claudia Rankine, filmmaker and writer Miranda July, artists Kara Walker, Coco Fusco, and Stanley Whitney, writer Annie Proulx, musicians Randy Weston and Vijay Iyer, vocalist Dianne Reeves, and composer David Lang, among many others. 2018 USA Fellows Architecture & Design Norman Kelley (Carrie Norman, Thomas Kelley) – Architects & Designers – Chicago, IL Amanda Williams – Public Artist – Chicago, IL Craft Julia Galloway – Potter – Missoula, MT Tony Marsh – Ceramicist – San Pedro, CA Martinez Studio (Wence Martinez, Sandra Martinez) – Weaver & Painter/ Designer – Sturgeon Bay, WI Warren Newton Seelig – Sculptor – Rockland, ME Patti Warashina – Ceramicist – Seattle, WA Dance Oguri – Dancer & Choreographer – Venice, CA Okwui Okpo kwasili – Performer & Choreographer – Brooklyn, NY Allison Orr – Choreographer – Austin, TX Bill Shannon – Performance & Video Artist – Pittsburgh, PA Amara Tabor-Smith – Dancer & Choreographer – Oakland, CA Media Starlee Kine – Podcaster & Writer – Brooklyn, NY Terence Nance – Artist – Brooklyn, NY Elaine McMillion Sheldon – Filmmaker – Morgantown, WV TNEG (Elissa Blount Moorhead, Arthur Jafa, Malik Sayeed) – Filmmakers – Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA Music Terence Blanchard – Trumpeter & Composer – New Orleans, LA Amir ElSaffar – Multi-Instrumentalist & Composer – New York, NY Ruthie Foster – Singer & Songwriter – Atlanta, GA Tania León – Composer & Conductor – Nyack, NY Danilo Pérez – Pianist & Composer – Quincy, MA Toshi Reagon – Musician – Brooklyn, NY Wayne Shorter – Composer – Los Angeles, CA Somi – Vocalist & Songwriter – New York, NY Tyshawn Sorey – Composer & Musician – New Haven, CT Theater & Performance Luis Alfaro – Playwright – Los Angeles, CA Lileana Blain-Cruz – Theater Director – New York, NY Las Nietas de Nonó (Lydela Nonó, Michel Nonó) – Performance Artists – Trujillo Alto, PR Tarell Alvin McCraney – Writer – Miami, FL My Barbarian (Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon, Alexandro Segade) – Performance Art Collective – New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA Mary Kathryn Nagle – Playwright – Tulsa, OK Traditional Arts D.Y. Begay – Textile Artist – Santa Fe, NM Sonya Kelliher-Combs – Mixed-Media Artist – Anchorage, AK Dawn Nichols Walden – Basketry Fiber Artist – Vulcan, MI Visual Art Cassils – Multidisciplinary & Performance Artist – Los Angeles, CA Abigail DeVille – Installation Artist – Bronx, NY Vanessa German – Sculptor & Citizen Artist – Pittsburgh, PA Pepón Osorio – Installation Artist – Philadelphia, PA Ebony G. Patterson – Painter & Mixed-Media Artist – Lexington, KY Dread Scott – Multidisciplinary Artist – Brooklyn, NY Cauleen Smith – Multidisciplinary Artist – Los Angeles, CA Writing Molly Brown – Poet & Essayist – Sweet Briar, VA Lucas Mann – Writer / Literary Nonfiction – Providence, RI Fred Moten – Poet & Cultural Critic – New York, NY Susan Muaddi Darraj – Writer / Fiction –Phoenix, MD