CalArtians Named to United States Artists’ 2022 Fellowship Class

United States Artists, an organization that supports artists and uplifts their essential roles in society, announced the 2022 class of USA Fellows on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Each fellow receives a $50,000 unrestricted cash award and a year of financial planning.

Three CalArts alums were included among the 2022 ranks:

• luciana achugar (Dance BFA 95) is a Brooklyn-based choreographer from Uruguay who has been making work in both locations since 1999. Her pieces are concerned with the “post-colonial world, searching for an undoing of current power structures from the inside out.” A much-lauded artist, achugar was a 2017 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts recipient.
• Nataki Garrett (Theater MFA 02), former associate dean of CalArts School of Theater, serves as the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, one of the largest theater-producing organizations in the U.S. Garrett was a visiting artist last semester at CalArts, returning to remount the Center for New Performance’s production, The Carolyn Bryant Project.
• Lars America Jan (Theater MFA 08), a current School of Theater faculty member, is a director, artist, writer, and activist. Jan is the founder of Early Morning Opera, a genre-bending performance and art lab whose works explore “emerging technologies, live audiences, and unclassifiable experience.”

“After another year facing the challenges of the pandemic, artists once again demonstrate their deep commitment to uplifting those around them and nurturing their communities,” noted Lynnette Miranda, program director of United States Artists. “The 2022 USA Fellows were selected for their remarkable artistic vision, their commitment to community – both in their specific communities and their discipline at large – and the potential to influence future
generations.”

Founded in 2006 by the Ford, Rockefeller, Rasmuson, and Prudential Foundations in direct response to the cuts in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, USA provides unrestricted support to artists working and living in the United States. Since its founding, the organization has awarded more than 750 artists and cultural practitioners with over $36 million of direct support through the USA Fellowship.