United States Artists (USA), the Chicago-based nonprofit, has named the fifty recipients of its 2020 fellowships, which come with unrestricted $50,000 cash awards. Working across ten disciplines, including architecture and design, dance, film, media, visual art, and writing, the cohort was chosen based on their creative accomplishments. The 2020 fellows include Patty Chang, Edwidge Danticat, MOS Architects, Sophia Nahli Allison, Guadalupe Rosales, Cameron Rowland, Elizabeth Streb, Martine Syms, and Nari Ward.

“We are so honored to celebrate the artists who are making vital contributions to the country's creative ecosystem,” said United States Artists president and CEO Deana Haggag. “It is a critically important time to support the livelihoods of artists and we are ecstatic to be able to honor fifty of them this year. The 2020 class is the largest cohort of Fellows we have awarded since we relocated to Chicago, and each and every one of them stands out as a visionary influence in their respective field.”

Since its founding in 2006, USA has awarded more than $27 million in direct financial support to over six hundred individuals. Previous fellows include trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard (2018), cartoonist Lynda Barry (2019), printmaker Amos Paul Kennedy (2015), podcaster Starlee Kine (2018), multidisciplinary artist Simone Leigh (2019), performance artist William Pope L. (2006), and dancer and choreographer Yvonne Rainer (2016).

The 2020 USA Fellows are:

Architecture & Design
MOS, New York, NY
Slow and Steady Wins the Race by Mary Ping, New York, NY
Sara Zewde, Harlem, NY

Craft
Jennifer Ling Datchuk, San Antonio, TX
Del Harrow, Fort Collins, CO
Wendy Maruyama, San Diego, CA
Aaron McIntosh, Kingsport, TN
Linda Sikora, Alfred Station, NY

Dance
Lisa Nelson, East Charleston, VT
Dianne McIntyre, Cleveland, OH, and New York, NY
Will Rawls, Brooklyn, NY
Elizabeth Streb, New York, NY
Abby Zbikowski, Urbana, IL

Film
Sophia Nahli Allison, Los Angeles, CA, and Durham, NC
Bing Liu, Chicago, IL
RaMell Ross, Providence, RI, and Greensboro, AL

Media
Yasmin Elayat, Brooklyn, NY
Surya Mattu, Brooklyn, NY
Guadalupe Rosales, Los Angeles, CA

Music
Anthony Braxton, Hamden, CT
Courtney Bryan, New Orleans, LA
Sylvie Courvoisier, Brooklyn, LA
Nathalie Joachim, Chicago, IL
Nicole Mitchell, Pittsburgh, PA
Pamela Z, San Francisco, CA

Theater & Performance
Christina Anderson, Providence, RI
Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas, New York, NY
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Brooklyn, NY
Hamid Rahmanian, Brooklyn, NY
Clint Ramos, New York, NY
Laurie Woolery, New York, NY

Traditional Arts
Tatsu Aoki, Chicago, IL
Delores Churchill, Ketchikan, AK
Dom Flemons, The American Songster, Silver Spring, MD
Lani Strong Hotch, Klukwan, AK
Kevin Locke, Wakpala, SD

Visual Art
Patty Chang, Altadena, CA
Melvin Edwards, New York, NY
Matthew Angelo Harrison, Detroit, MI
Howardena Pindell, New York, NY
Cameron Rowland, Queens, NY
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Corrales, NM
Martine Syms, Los Angeles, CA
Nari Ward, New York, NY

Writing
Hanif Abdurraqib, Columbus, OH
Sarah Broom, New York, NY
Jericho Brown, Atlanta, GA
Edwidge Danticat, Miami, FL
Sharon Olds, New York, NY
Crystal Wilkinson, Lexington, KY