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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/29\/arts\/design\/macarthur-foundation-announces-2026-genius-grant-winners.html?emc=edit_nn_20260930&nl=the-morning&segment_id=227287",
    "parsed_content": "AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTMacArthur Foundation Announces 2026 \u2018Genius Grant\u2019 WinnersThe 20 fellowship recipients across the arts, humanities and sciences will each receive an $800,000, no-strings-attached stipend for their work.Listen \u00b7 5:42 min Share full articleFrom left to right: Chip Thomas, Felipe De Brigard, Holly Jean Buck, Immanuel WilkinsCredit...John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur FoundationBy Malia MendezSept. 29, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Driving through the Navajo Nation, you might spot one of Chip Thomas\u2019s large-scale photo murals at an abandoned shopping center along the highway. His work has graced numerous other buildings across the sprawling reservation.When Thomas, 69, was still in the early stages of his work, a friend told him he should get a MacArthur grant, he recalled, though he brushed off the comment at the time. On Tuesday, he received one.Thomas along with 19 others was a recipient of the annual \u201cgenius grants\u201d presented by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation across the arts, sciences and humanities. The award, recognizing \u201cexceptional creativity\u201d according to the foundation\u2019s website, comes with a no-strings-attached stipend of $800,000, disbursed over five years.The Navajo Nation, the country\u2019s largest Native American reservation, stretches across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Thomas, who is not Navajo but who worked as a physician there for 36 years, centered his photographic work on the Din\u00e9, as the Navajo people call themselves. When he learned of his MacArthur selection, he said, he became emotional, wishing his parents and grandmother were still around so he could tell them.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTWith the foundation\u2019s funding, he said he hoped to resurrect his Painted Desert Project, a collaborative public art campaign.\u201cI\u2019m looking at a revival,\u201d he told The New York Times. He also said that he would like to bring arts programming to students on the Navajo Nation.Because fellows neither apply for the honor nor receive any notification they are being considered, their selection comes as a complete surprise. The foundation takes careful measures to keep its process shrouded in secrecy, including using ruses to get grantees on the phone for a private conversation.Holly Jean Buck, an associate professor of environment and sustainability at the University at Buffalo who is among this year\u2019s recipients, said she was under the impression that the foundation was calling to talk about climate change and energy technology: \u201cThey kind of tricked me.\u201dFelipe De Brigard, a professor of philosophy and of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, said he ignored the first call he received from the foundation, thinking it was spam. When he answered the next day from a faculty retreat, the person on the other end of the line suggested that he get away from the group by telling them the call was about taxes.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cAll I could think was: What did I do with my taxes?\u201d he said, laughing.Immanuel Wilkins, an alto jazz saxophonist and composer who also received a grant this year, said the fact that the foundation operates so undercover has \u201cmythologized\u201d it in the world of artists.At 29, Wilkins is this year\u2019s youngest recipient. And as someone still early in his career, he said he sometimes had felt pressure to prove himself.Now, he said, \u201cI\u2019m just able to take risks in a different way because the MacArthur gives me the benefit of the doubt.\u201dChristine Sun Kim, an artist interested in the politics of sound, said her list was long when it came to ways she imagined using the grant funding. But she also was looking forward to slowing down.Kim, who lives in Berlin, said she has been traveling a lot for work in the past two years. An exhibition surveying her oeuvre came to the Whitney Museum last year. She is also the mother of two children.\u201cWith this, I believe that I will be able to scale back on taking opportunities or thinking about how to pay my bills as much,\u201d Kim said, \u201cand be able to be a little bit more of a mom with more flexibility in her life.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe MacArthur Fellowship does not require recipients to produce anything specific with the funding, nor does it evaluate their performance during the fellowship term.Elizabeth Ellis, a 2026 MacArthur grantee and an associate professor of history at Princeton University, said she was used to grants\u2019 requiring a final product. At times, that mandate has felt disruptive to her while in the field.\u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard people say, in academia, we publish or we perish,\u201d she said, but flexible funding takes that pressure off.Ellis said the foundation\u2019s support felt especially meaningful after seeing the effects on her peers of cuts to federal funds from sources like the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants.\u201cIt\u2019s just really nice to have these opportunities to recognize and support work that can be very difficult in this moment,\u201d she said.The other 2026 fellows are:Ellora Derenoncourt, a labor economist and economic historianKaiyu Guan, an environmental scientistTrajal Harrell, a choreographer and dancerAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMarika Holland, a climate scientistSong Lin, an organic chemistLayli Long Soldier, a poetRodney McMillian, an artistMaaza Mengiste, a fiction writerAriel Ron, a historianKate Spradley, a forensic anthropologistVincent Valdez, a visual artistVincenzo Vitelli, a physicistBryan Washington, a fiction writerLiangfang Zhang, a chemical engineer and bioengineerAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-29T16:01:05+00:00",
    "author_name": "Malia Mendez",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
    "section": "Arts",
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    "ai_headline": "MacArthur Foundation Announces 2026 \u2018Genius Grant\u2019 Winners",
    "ai_simplified_title": "MacArthur Foundation Announces 2026 Genius Grant Winners",
    "ai_excerpt": "The MacArthur Foundation has announced its 2026 'Genius Grant' winners, awarding 20 individuals across the arts, humanities, and sciences an $800,000, no-strings-attached stipend. Recipients expressed surprise and gratitude for the flexible funding, which allows them to pursue their work without typical grant constraints.",
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