CHICAGO: United States Artists (USA) has announced its 2021 USA Fellows, including seven theatre and performance artists. This year, USA awarded $50,000 unrestricted cash awards to a total of 60 artists across 10 disciplines, the largest fellowship class in the organization’s 15-year history. In addition to theatre and performance, artists were awarded in the disciplines of architecture and design, craft, dance, film, media, music, traditional arts, visual art, and writing. This award supports ongoing artistic and professional development while honoring the creative accomplishments of the recipients.

“We are grateful for every artist whose artmaking, music, writing, and more is helping us to navigate and cope through this harrowing time in our country,” said president and CEO Deana Haggag in a statement. “The 2021 USA Fellows are a testament to the power of art in shaping the world around us and navigating its complexities. Artists do so much for our communities, and we are grateful to be able to support these 60 incredible practitioners and welcome them into the United States Artists fellowship.”

This year’s theatre recipients are Jibz Cameron, Carmelita Tropicana, Christopher Chen, Sandra Delgado, Idris Goodwin, Mia Katigbak, and Karen Zacarías. With an unrestricted award, fellows are able to decide for themselves how to best use the money, be it to create new work or to put the funds toward rent, reducing debt, healthcare, or other expenses. Fellows were chosen for their artistic vision and impact, which each artist demonstrating generosity and care toward field building.

“Artists are at the core of their communities, and as the difficulties of the past year have demonstrated, it is more important than ever that we continue to support individual artists,” said board chair Ed Henry in a statement. “And as we continue to meet the challenges 2021 will bring, it is also clear that USA must remain nimble and responsive to the needs of the field, which is why were are honored to be able to support the largest cohort in our history with 60 artists this year.”

For the full list of fellows and snippets of how they’ve been navigating the current moment, visit this page.