Curry J. Hackett named 2026 United States Artist Fellow

United States Artists has advanced a simple yet powerful conviction—that artists are essential to the imagination and health of our society.

Judilee Reed, President and CEO of United States Artists

Media, Culture, and Communication Clinical Assistant Professor Curry J. Hackett was named a 2026 United States Arts Fellow (USA), one of 50 artists recognized for their "groundbreaking artistic vision." The fellowship comes with an unrestricted $50,000 award.

"I feel deeply seen and motivated by the United States Artists’ support of my work. I’m looking forward to carrying their stewardship forward by deepening a practice that reveals new aesthetics, ways of knowing, and kinships with the land,” Hackett said.

Hackett refers to his practice as moving "between design, media, and public art to narrate spectral stories embedded in the built realm."

The multimedia artist investigates Black landscapes, as seen most recently in commissioned work for the Smithsonian Design Triennial. So That You All Won’t Forget: Speculations on a Black Home in Rural Virginia is work that speaks to Hackett's family history cultivating farms in Prospect, Virginia.

And in Ugly Beauties, a public installation in New York City, Hackett juxtaposes AI-generated images of Black people with native and invasive plant species, inviting viewers to consider society’s perception of beauty and belonging.

Other projects include HOLD (with Gabriel Jean-Paul Soomar) currently on view at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and several permanent public works in Washington, DC.

Nominations for the USA Fellowship are made by a rotating group of arts professionals. Panelists in ten disciplines identify finalists using three primary criteria: vision, impact, and timing. According to the USA, this year there was an emphasis on work that felt "risky and boundary-pushing."