Record number of applications leads to international contingent of art makers from seven countries and 25 U.S. states.
MacDowell, the nation’s first artist residency program, awarded Fellowships to 178* artists from 25 U.S. states and seven countries. The incoming Fellows reflect multiple artistic disciplines and will arrive from places such as Brazil, Portugal, Jamaica, and the UK, as well as Hawaii, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington. The Fellowships are for upcoming residencies stretching from this autumn to the following spring as the program returns to a rolling scheduling protocol in anticipation of reaching pre-COVID capacity.
Fifty-five percent of the upcoming artists-in-residence self-identify as artists of color and 75 percent are first-time Fellowship awardees at MacDowell, where the mission is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination.
This group of MacDowell Fellows includes architect James Leng; composers Andrea Clearfield, Ted Hearne, Anne LeBaron, and Nina C. Young; filmmakers Pia Borg, Susana de Sousa Dias, Naeem Mohaimen, and Charlotte Prodger; interdisciplinary artists JJJJJerome Ellis, Laura Parnes, Julie Tolentino, and Ronaldo Wilson; playwrights Janet Allard, Jiehae Park, and KJ Sanchez; visual artists Gohar Dashti, Tatana Kellner, and Bundith Phunsombatlert; poets Sara Borjas and Ángel García; nonfiction writers Jaime Lowe, and Priyanka Mattoo; and fiction writers Pemi Aguda, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Dantiel Moniz, and Jason Reynolds.
“This new group of incoming Fellows is a testament to the diversity of talent represented by MacDowell Fellows who come to Peterborough from all corners of the world to find a bit of sanctuary in which to create, and also to share their valuable insights with each other,” said Executive Director Philip Himberg. “As we ramp up toward full capacity, our aim is to ensure that our Fellows have the time, space and communion to create transformative art and new ways of lifting the human spirit.”
These highly competitive fellowships, each with an average value of more than $13,000, were awarded from MacDowell’s largest pool yet of 1,514 applications received by the most recent of three annual deadlines. “This is a record number of submissions for MacDowell, and we wonder if this evidences the compelling need at this time for artists to make new work and the unvanquished creative spirit in the face of historic hardship,” Himberg said.
A panel of distinguished professionals in each discipline selects Fellows based on their talent and vision, as reflected by a work sample and project description. While at MacDowell, Fellows — 65 percent of whom in this group identify as women — are provided a private studio, three meals a day, and accommodations for a period of up to eight weeks.
According to discipline, incoming Fellows are:
- Architects: Wendy Fok, Chelsea Garunay, James Leng, Suzanne Mathew, Ivonne Santoyo-Orozco, J. Matthew Thomas, Constance Vale, and Lynnette Widder.
- Composers: Catherine Brookman, Andres Carrizo, Andrea Clearfield, Alex Dowling, Sivan Eldar, Chase Elodia, Pierce Gradone, Ted Hearne, Peter Kronreif, Anne LeBaron, James Brandon Lewis, Scott Lindroth, Sky Macklay, Sarah Manning, Emma O’Halloran, Samora Pinderhughes, Steven Snowden, Amy Williams, and Nina C. Young.
- Filmmakers: Gabriela Almeida, Luis Arnias, Pia Borg, Susana de Sousa Dias, Jeanne Finley, Corey Hughes, Salomé Lamas, Jodie Mack, Ryan McKenna, Naeem Mohaiemen, Charlotte Prodger, Steve Rowell, Suneil Sanzgiri, Kelly Sears, Deborah Stratman, Rea Tajiri, and Hong-An Truong.
- Interdisciplinary artists: Chinazo Rena Anakwe, Yanira Castro, JJJJJerome Ellis, Moriah Evans, Rae Red, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Laura Parnes, Andrea Roberts, Alex Romania, Julie Tolentino, Ronaldo Wilson, and Sichong Xie.
- Theatre artists: Brittany K. Allen, Sheila Arnold, Ifa Bayeza, Morgan Bassichis, Bleu Beckford-Burrell, Syreeta Briggs, Steve Cosson, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Renae Jarrett, C.A. Johnson, Andrea Kato, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Cordelia Lynn, Jiehae Park, Chana Porter, Nia Akilah Robinson, KJ Sanchez, Pamela Severns, Jen Silverman, Daniel Tejera, Niko Tsakalakos, and Max Vernon.
- Visual artists: Deborah Anzinger, Rachel Breen, Karl Burkheimer, Alex Callender, John Chae, Furen Dai, Gohar Dashti, Joey Fauerso, Linda Geary, Diana Guerrero-Macia, Elana Herzog, Jessica Hutchins, Tatana Kellner, Mo Kong, Joan Linder, Courtney McClellan, Summer McCorkle, Jeanine Oleson, Alison Pebworth, Claudia Peña Salinas, Bundith Phunsombatlert, Piper Shepard, Alyson Shotz, Chris Sollars, and Jessica Wynne.
- Poets: Kemi Alabi, Sara Borjas, Jennifer S. Cheng, Serena Chopra, Flower Conroy, Victoria Ford, Ángel García, Eugene Gloria, Rooja Mohassessy, Cecily Parks, Sun Yung Shin, and Donna Spruijt-Metz.
- Fiction Writers: Pemi Aguda, Sara Johnson Allen, Leah Bailly, Vimi Bajaj, Clare Beams, Jordan Casomar, Jennifer Croft, Alice Elliott Dark, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Dewaine Farria, Joshua Ferris, Rebecca Handler, Richard House, Mary-Beth Hughes, Jared Jackson, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Lisa Ko, Simón López-Trujillo, Margaret Malone, Rochelle Marrett, Dantiel Moniz, Titi Nguyen, Maggie Nye, Peter Orner, Jamie Quatro, Arvin Ramgoolam, Jason Reynolds, Josephine Rowe, Clarisse Baleja Saidi, Alanna Schubach, Salvatore Scibona, Asako Serizawa, Mary South, Taryn Tilton, João Tordo, Tanna Tucker, and Bailey Williams.
- Nonfiction Writers: Alex Abramovich, Catina Bacote, Zusha, Elinson, Tatiana Johnson-Boria, Laura Kolbe, Janine Kovac, Amy Kurzweil, Richard Scott Larson, Anna Leahy, Audrea Lim, Jaime Lowe, Priyanka Mattoo, Cameron McWhirter, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Elizabeth Owuor, Ross Perlin, Charles Rice-Gonzalez, Lance Richardson, Tricia Romano, Elvina Scott, Jeff Sharlet, Arabelle Sicardi, Sebastian Smee, Anna Sussman, and Deborah Taffa.
Fellows make use of uninterrupted time to work and enjoy the rare opportunity for multidisciplinary exchange. Artists with demonstrated financial need are eligible for travel grants and stipends to offset expenses that accrue at home while they are away at their residencies. Check our applications pages for the next application deadline.
By awarding more than 300 Fellowships each year, MacDowell continues its long-standing mission that has inspired important contributions to American and world culture for more than a century and has to date earned Fellows 95 Pulitzer Prizes as well as many other accolades.
*April 4 edit: In an effort to return to pre-COVID capacity, and to ensure each artist accepted previously, but whose residencies were delayed because of the pandemic, is granted time and space at MacDowell, we added 41 more artists to our upcoming residency period for a new total of 177.
