The Chicago-based philanthropic organization United States Artists on Wednesday announced its 2026 USA Fellowships, awarding $50,000 to 50 artists in 10 disciplines, including three artists local to Chicago: Ben LaMar Gay, Sharon Udoh and Edra Soto.
According to the announcement, the money can be used in any way to support their work, “whether towards expanding their practice, covering living expenses, accessing healthcare or investing in their communities.”
While money and artmaking can be intrinsically linked, a 2003 Urban Institute study reported that 96% of Americans value art in their lives, but only 27% value artists. United States Artists was founded 20 years ago in response to that study, according to a statement on its website. Today, USA has given some 1,000 individuals more than $53 million in direct support. The organization, founded by leaders from the Ford, Rockefeller, Rasmuson and Prudential Foundations, is funded by foundations, philanthropists and other field leaders “to create pathways of support for artists across the nation,” its website states.
Judilee Reed is at the helm as president and CEO, and the organization was Los Angeles-based until 2014, when then-CEO Carolina García Jayaram moved its headquarters to Chicago, stating that the city’s “epicenter for creative activity” is “currently experiencing an artistic renaissance.” As for the fellowships, there’s a rigorous, year-long selection process: Cultural professionals nominate artists, artists submit applications with work samples, and each year’s awardees “(reflect) the current cultural and societal moment, honoring a plurality of voices from diverse backgrounds and often-overlooked experiences, identities and perspectives,” according to the award announcement.
Chicago artist Edra Soto is the winner of a 2026 USA Fellowship Award, presented by United States Artists of Chicago. (John Michael Kohler Art Center)
Edra Soto
Inspired by her Puerto Rican roots, Soto submitted work from three recent installations: “por la señal,” “Graft” and “the place of dwelling.” Using wrought-iron screens, lawn furniture and electric fans, “the place of dwelling” peeks into the lives of the working-class community where she grew up — but not completely, as Soto would ask herself, “How do I uplift an everyday object?” Plastic chairs reupholstered with a bespectacled Bad Bunny sticking his tongue out, a golden tiger in front of palm fronds and red, white and blue spray-painted names of Puerto Rican celebrities are a few answers. But for Soto, her fellowship is about more than just her art practice.
“I have employees, and I’m renting studio space and storage space,” she said. “There’s a lot of traveling, social presentations, lectures and commitments that require my time, there’s the clothing I need to wear to do a presentation. My economy is very much connected to my artmaking.”
Musician Sharon Udoh is the winner of a 2026 USA Fellowship Award, presented by United States Artists of Chicago. (Kate Sweeney)
Sharon Udoh
Udoh composes, writes and improvises hymns. At Ravenswood’s Experimental Sound Studios, Udoh and turntablist Allen Moore formed the duo Potliquor. In one video submitted to USA, the sun is shining as Moore gently slides records out of their sleeves and places them on a nearby player while Udoh sits across from him at a piano, eyes closed, her fingers hop-skipping over keys sometimes delicately, and sometimes with force, depending on Moore’s record choice. A piano player for 40 years, Udoh was so influenced by her Christian upbringing that after hearing her music, she often gets asked, “Hey, did you grow up in church?”
“When I sing hymns, they are an opportunity to experience the deepness of one’s feelings, and to be honest. You can’t lie to God,” Udoh said.
Having used her retirement money to move to Chicago three years ago, she plans to use her fellowship funds to “(recuperate) my retirement and (make) a lot of records.” Udoh also hopes to donate to local organizations that have helped her get to where she is.
Ben LaMar Gay is the winner of a 2026 USA Fellowship Award, presented by United States Artists of Chicago. (Shanon Marks)
Ben LaMar Gay
Like Udoh, Gay is a musical improviser. The Chicago native is influenced by folklore that, he says, “comes from humans improvising, trying to understand their place between the ground and the sky.” In his “duet” with the DuSable Bridge titled “Bridge Lift,” Gay is standing in the guts of the DuSable, blowing into an Armenian brass instrument called the duduk. Two microphones angle towards the duduk to capture resonant moans, creaks, squeaks and honks akin to the bridge’s. The video cuts between Gay’s performance and pedestrians walking along the Chicago River, as the DuSable shifts slowly towards the sky.
As for his fellowship money plans? “First and foremost, the funds will help me stay afloat, just in everyday life. But it also keeps my collaborations afloat, and my collaborators,” Gay said. “If our project can stay afloat, they can benefit from it as well.”
As USA fellowship awardees, Gay, Soto and Udoh will also receive financial planning, career consulting, legal advice and personal care. The organization strives to address artists’ evolving needs, the press release states, and “remain in dialogue on how artists’ practices and livelihoods can be most effectively supported.”
“People dedicate their life to making art because it’s not only a necessity to be engaged with others and influence through ideas and the imagination, but it’s also a form of surviving,” Soto said. “Making art has saved my life.”
Ruby Rosenthal is a freelance writer.
