2018 USA Fellowship
2018 USA Fellowship
![In a dark room, a group of Black women look up and each their right arms up to the sky. They are bathed on dark peach and blue light.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/311a9a15-0292-454d-920d-51085a4b5ec6/Tabor-Smith_Amara_001.jpg?crop=4496%2C3001%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
House/Full of Blackwomen: passing/through/the great middle by Amara Tabor-Smith, 2018. Site specific dance and performance. Performed at Eastside Arts Alliance in Oakland.
Photo by Robbie Sweeny.
![Bill Shannon thumbnail](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/57fc579e-36a8-4685-8ac0-325f1b26ee55/Bill-Shannon-thumbnail.png?crop=1877%2C1056%2C6%2C0&width=1000)
Excerpts of work by Bill Shannon.
![Shadowfield/Colored Light/Dyad, silver brazed stainless steel, colored lucite, 34 x 30 x 8 inches, 2016.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/33bc3bb7-45d2-45b9-88d4-00130e5f6252/seelig-warren-work02-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1920%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Shadowfield/Colored Light/Dyad, silver brazed stainless steel, colored lucite, 34 x 30 x 8 inches, 2016.
![Badge of Honor, video and installation, 1,500 square feet, side view of both rooms adjacent to each other, 1995.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/ef59944f-fc11-4c58-af58-de562ba32881/osorio-pepon-work01.jpg?crop=1800%2C1200%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Badge of Honor, video and installation, 1,500 square feet, side view of both rooms adjacent to each other, 1995.
![Palette of Cochineal, tapestry, 33 x 48 inches, edition 02/2013, collection of Heard Museum.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/c68a4790-360b-4d2f-818f-43b42bf31fe4/begay-dy-work03-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1549%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Palette of Cochineal, tapestry, 33 x 48 inches, edition 02/2013, collection of Heard Museum.
![Ties that Bind, basketry, cedar bark, cedar roots, 52 x 14 inches, 2013.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/8bbd3243-851b-45be-b153-479220788ed2/walden-dawn-work02-scaled.jpg?crop=1706%2C2560%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Ties that Bind by Dawn Nichols Walden, 2013. Basketry, cedar bark, cedar roots, 52 × 14 inches.
![From Romeo & Juliet Outside the Box, presented by YoungArts Foundation.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/3de25aea-a585-4e07-9152-5c98ed3f6035/mccraney-tarell-work02-1000x563.jpg?crop=1000%2C563%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
From Romeo & Juliet Outside the Box, presented by YoungArts Foundation.
![Photo by Carlos Agrazal.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/26278fa4-cf37-4435-8e8f-0cc6518b7d58/perez-danilo-work03-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1698%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Danilo Pérez playing the piano.
Photo by Carlos Agrazal.
![i come to do a violence to the lie, site specific installation; 31 powerfigures, 15-layer soundtrack, performance, community engagement, MATRIX 174, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 2016.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/903cf0f4-9f2a-4cdd-b655-b697aae1bf91/german-vanessa-work02-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1707%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
i come to do a violence to the lie, site specific installation; 31 powerfigures, 15-layer soundtrack, performance, community engagement, MATRIX 174, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 2016.
![Perforated Totem Cluster, earthenware and glaze, 36 x 23 x 28 inches, 2007-2008.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/13904c82-269a-45b0-9f7e-c4a0ef1bfd13/marsh-tony-work01.png?crop=1007%2C762%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Perforated Totem Cluster, earthenware and glaze, 36 x 23 x 28 inches, 2007-2008.
![From Case #3: Belt Buckle, Mystery Show, 2015.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/5f3755da-f30c-41ea-878f-b9fd83510ff1/kine-starlee-work01.jpeg?crop=1024%2C758%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
From Case #3: Belt Buckle, Mystery Show, 2015.
“Have a good day,” he said to silence. Mama shuffled around in the kitchen, slamming dishes, wearing her martyr expression, and Baba sat drinking his coffee. As George shut the door, he heard his mother mutter to no one, “She’s not getting my gold.”
He headed down 16th, then to Shunk Street towards Broad. His work boots felt heavy on his feet, and he wished he’d worn his short-sleeved uniform shirt because it was still warm for September.
There were two cars to work on today — a transmission job on a ‘70 Chevelle. Easy. The other one was more tricky — a ‘61 Buick Electra that wouldn’t start, and its owner was worried like it was his child. It would take George most of the day to experiment, to figure it out. That’s why he loved mechanical work — he liked puzzles that actually had a solution. That felt fair.
Today, when he arrived, Mr. Lerner would ask him how things were going with Linda. When George told him he’d proposed, he’d say in a drawl, “Aaaand?” Then George would say, “She said yes,” and Mr. Lerner would offer him a firm handshake, tell him women ruin your lives, and then chuckle and say, “Go on, clock in.”
That would be it — that was how people normally reacted to good news. No yelling. No tears. No “You haven’t given any of the girls at church a chance.” That was his mother. His father had just stared at him in shocked silence, until Mrs. Khoury yelled, exasperated, “Talk! Say something to your son.”
And Mr. Khoury had sighed, and muttered only, “This was always my nightmare about America.”
Brotherly Love, 2018
These are the small moments that still mean too much to me, that I have a hard time walking away from quickly. I stand over the car, staring through the cracked window. It’s a boy, younger than me. His seat is reclined as far back as possible. At first I can’t see him breathing and I don’t know what to do, but then his chest moves, just a little, up and down, and then again. Then he shivers in his sleep. I put my hands on the roof of the car and lean closer. He looks ordinary. Everything about this is ordinary.
It’s the commonness that’s most wrenching.
This is a good parking lot to get high in; they never tow. When this boy wakes, he will drive away and do this again somewhere else because that’s what he does, that’s what a lot of people do. Eventually, I assume, he won’t wake up. I have this urge to tell him, Hey, I knew someone who didn’t wake up. Not as a warning or anything, but because maybe he would be interested.
Lord Fear: A Memoir, 2015
![Amir ElSaffar with the Rivers of Sound Orchestra.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/67e239a4-1f33-4258-adb0-3fde20cdc166/elsaffar-amir-work02.jpg?crop=960%2C640%2C0%2C0&width=960)
Amir ElSaffar with the Rivers of Sound Orchestra.
![Photo by Ben Gancsos.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/24c7040b-6a55-41b5-9b2e-f87b545f6568/smith-cauleen-work01-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1707%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Artwork by Cauleen Smith.
Photo by Ben Gancsos.
![....love....(when they grow up), mixed media, handcut, jacquard photo tapestry with glitter, trim, rhinestones, embellishments, beads, toys, and handcast fabric balloons, variable dimensions, 2016. Installed at the 32nd São Paulo Bienal, Live Uncertainty, São Paulo, Brazil.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/83af764a-5dcd-4341-86b4-ebe21422b6aa/patterson-ebony-g-work03-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1920%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
....love....(when they grow up), mixed media, handcut, jacquard photo tapestry with glitter, trim, rhinestones, embellishments, beads, toys, and handcast fabric balloons, variable dimensions, 2016. Installed at the 32nd São Paulo Bienal, Live Uncertainty, São Paulo, Brazil.
![Cassils thumbnail](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/e7993d83-b1a6-4bdd-86a9-9c306eb8850f/Cassils-thumbnail.png?crop=1905%2C1072%2C67%2C0&width=1000)
Trailer for Monument Push by Cassils, 2017.
![Manual del Bestiario Doméstico, Theatre, Carolina, Puerto Rico, 2014.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/6ee1b51f-0fe4-413c-94aa-2ceb23b4c967/las-nietas-de-nono-work01.jpeg?crop=960%2C640%2C0%2C0&width=960)
Manual del Bestiario Doméstico, Theatre, Carolina, Puerto Rico, 2014.
![Flora: Painting by Sandra Martinez, acrylic on paper, 6 x 6 inches, 2015.
Tapestry design by Sandra Martinez, woven by Wence Martinez, handspun wool tapestry, 6 x 6 feet, 2015.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/7757225a-bf7b-4e51-8701-1bad46827987/martinez-studio-work01-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C2432%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Flora: Painting by Sandra Martinez, acrylic on paper, 6 x 6 inches, 2015. Tapestry design by Sandra Martinez, woven by Wence Martinez, handspun wool tapestry, 6 x 6 feet, 2015.
![Chicago, how do you see?, Chicago Architecture Biennial, 2015. Photo by Spencer McNeil.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/cf272196-b2b2-4def-ba73-79514ec5a14d/normankelley-work02-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1273%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Chicago, how do you see?, Chicago Architecture Biennial, 2015.
Photo by Spencer McNeil.
![Beneath the Lotus, glass, earthenware, clay, glaze, plexiglass, and mixed media, 14 x 20 x 20 inches, 2014. Photo by Russell Johnson.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/80da61e4-9c81-422e-b21a-690d34ec373f/warashina-patti-work01-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1707%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Beneath the Lotus, glass, earthenware, clay, glaze, plexiglass, and mixed media, 14 x 20 x 20 inches, 2014. Photo by Russell Johnson.
![A Man Was Lynched By Police Yesterday, nylon, 84 x 52-1/2 inches, 2015. Based on NAACP banner; installed at Jack Shainman gallery in July 2016. Photo courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/9ce4b775-d362-4e2f-a4ef-34310c6d9584/scott-dread-work02-scaled.jpg?crop=1854%2C2560%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
A Man Was Lynched By Police Yesterday by Dread Scott, 2015. Nylon, 84 × 52.5 inches. Based on NAACP banner; installed at Jack Shainman Gallery.
Photo courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
![Tyshawn Sorey Trio with Chris Tordini and Cory Smythe. Photo by John Rogers.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/e8c5f2fb-2c01-4dd8-83f6-0bad3cd68ff5/sorey-tyshawn-work02-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1707%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Tyshawn Sorey Trio with Chris Tordini and Cory Smythe. Photo by John Rogers.
![Gold Idiot Strings, 2014. Photo courtesy of the artist.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/38278241-90d1-4529-abc8-ef18f9937af6/kelliher-combs-sonya-work02-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1443%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Gold Idiot Strings, 2014. Photo courtesy of the artist.
![Photo courtesy of the artist.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/72f624de-1048-4cd4-b2b6-7550a72546b5/shorter-wayne-work02.jpg?crop=1280%2C853%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Photo courtesy of the artist.
It's not that I want to say, 2010
![MidSummer Event Horizon, 2014.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/2c02df8d-a5b8-4df3-89c9-227bf050073d/deville-abigail-work03.jpeg?crop=2000%2C1500%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
MidSummer Event Horizon by Abigail DeVille, 2014.
![Color(ed) Theory: Crown Royal Bag, vacated house, latex paint, dimensions variable, 2015. Photo by Michael Sullivan.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/75729364-d223-4665-86da-193376b16a53/williams-amanda-work01-scaled.jpg?crop=2560%2C1705%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
Color(ed) Theory: Crown Royal Bag by Amanda Williams, 2015. Vacated house, latex paint, dimensions variable.
Photo by Michael Sullivan.
![Allison Orr thumbnail](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/53257b0c-0b60-4671-adab-ed2ed1b9b8cc/Allison-Orr-thumbnail.png?crop=1856%2C1044%2C24%2C0&width=1000)
“The Trash Project” from the documentary film Trash Dance, 2012.
![The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead, Signature Theater, NY, 2016.](https://usa-p-36588810407f.b-cdn.net/88dafdb8-a336-4d9a-85cf-87422db8ca49/blain-cruz-lileana-work01.jpg?crop=1000%2C667%2C0%2C0&width=1000)
The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead, Signature Theater, NY, 2016.