Calling Up Justice explores funding opportunities for artists, social justice practitioners, and entrepreneurs in our Open Development meeting. This post is highlighting a funder who is supporting work that is alignment with our values. Read more about United States Artists below.

United States Artists

United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization headquartered in Chicago, IL. They raise money and redistribute resources to the country’s most compelling artists and cultural practitioners. They focus on supporting and centering individual artists through unrestricted awards, professional services, and content development.

Each year they award up to fifty USA Fellowships and one Berresford Prize. USA Fellowships are annual $50,000 unrestricted awards recognizing the most compelling artists working and living in the United States at every stage of their career. Fellowships are given in the following disciplines: Architecture & Design, Craft, Dance, Film, Media, Music, Theater & Performance, Traditional Arts, Visual Art, and Writing.  The Berresford Prize is an unrestricted $25,000 award given annually to a cultural practitioner who has contributed significantly to the advancement, well-being, and care of artists in society. 

In addition to their award programs, they administer a range of fellowships through our initiatives on behalf of foundations, philanthropists, and field partners seeking to develop programs that support individual artists. They are currently administering Artist Relief, Disability Futures, and the Knight Arts + Tech Fellowship.

Their rigorous nomination and panel selection processes can take up to an entire year to complete. Artists are anonymously nominated to apply by a diverse and rotating group of arts professionals. Applications are then reviewed by panels tailored specifically for each award or initiative, who select the finalists. At this time, there is not an open application or nomination process for any of our awards or initiatives.