USArtists Announces Fellows of 2010 (And We're Proud!)

Every year the United States Artists awards millions of dollars to artists of all kinds, from Architects and Designers to those involved in Theatre Arts.  This year $2.5 million was awarded to these 50 different artists.  Why do we at Playwrights Foundation care so much?  Aside from it being quite the feat for ANY artist to achieve, one that should be applauded and recognized anyway, Playwrights Foundation is proud to announce that not one, but TWO alumni are recipients of this years USA Fellowship!

Rajiv Joseph, writer of the Pulitzer Prize nominated Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo finds himself at the receiving end of the highly esteemed $50,000 USA Fellowship.  And to think, Tiger was just a cub in our ROUGH Reading Series, back in 2006.  The LA Times talks about just how big of a deal this prize is:

Joseph and 49 other artists -- including four from Southern California --  were announced Tuesday as this year’s USA fellows. The $2.5 million in combined annual fellowships, first awarded in 2006, dwarfs all of the nation’s annual arts prizes except the MacArthur Fellowship, which currently antes up nearly $4 million a year for artists. MacArthur fellows get $100,000 a year for five years, and artists typically account for about a third of the 25 or so winners of the annual MacArthur “genius grants.” (source)

Wait, didn't we say there were two?  Yes!  Also from the 2006 ROUGH Readings comes fellow 2010 USArtists... fellow... is Brighde Mullins, who also received the Pinter Review Gold Medal for her work, Fire Eater about the Irish potato famine.

Congratulations to Rajiv, Brighde, and all of the other awarded artists, you all deserve it!

Read more about United States Artists over at their website, and see what other artists have been awarded!