Celebrating its 20th year, the Chicago-based non-profit United States Artists (USA) has released the names of its 2026 fellows, each of whom will receive a $50,000 unrestricted grant. In addition to the monetary prize, fellows benefit from tailored support from USA, such as financial planning, career consulting and legal advice.
Awarded in ten categories—architecture and design, craft, writing, dance, film, media, music, theatre and performance, traditional arts and visual art—the winners this year include an Emmy Award-winning tap dancer from New Jersey, a banjo player from North Carolina and a self-described “decoration enthusiast” from Arkansas. USA's announcement notes that many of its 2026 fellows “explore personal archives, trace artistic lineages and move fluidly between inheritance and invention. In doing so, they enlighten histories, surface overlooked narratives and challenge the status quo of whose stories are preserved.”
The visual art category includes six winners—hailing from Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Nashville and New Mexico—although visual artists are well represented in other categories as well. Among this year’s fellows are Nancy Baker Cahill, Mercedes Dorame, Raheleh Filsoofi, Edra Soto and the Philadelphia-based artist Maia Chao—one of 56 artists participating in the upcoming 2026 Whitney Biennial.
Each year, USA additionally awards its $50,000 Berresford Prize to a leader in the arts for their “significant contributions to the advancement of artists in society”. The 2026 prize has been awarded to Lori Lea Pourier, a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the founder of the First Peoples Fund, which has supported Native artists and cultural communities across the US for almost 30 years.
“For two decades, United States Artists has advanced a simple yet powerful conviction—that artists are essential to the imagination and health of our society,” Judilee Reed, the president and chief executive of USA, said in a statement. “Our commitment to unrestricted support, with programmes such as the USA Fellowship, has enabled artists across every discipline and place to sustain their livelihoods, take creative risks and define their own paths forward. Through the Berresford Prize, we recognise that there are creative administrators who create the conditions that support artists. The legacy of USA relies on the vitality and enduring impact of these artists and administrators, whose work continues to reimagine and enrich our collective future.”
Since its founding in 2006, USA has awarded more than $53m to over a thousand artists. Past fellows include Paul Chan, Roberto Lugo, Howardena Pindell, Gala Porras-Kim and Martha Rosler.