NEW YORK, NY.- A new organization dedicated to providing direct support for living artists on an unparalleled scale and national scope will debut this year with the award of 50 grants totaling $2.5 million. Founded with $20 million in seed funding from The Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Prudential Foundation, and the Rasmuson Foundation, the organization – United States Artists (USA) – represents an ambitious private investment in individual artists and the creative vibrancy of America. In addition to offering grants, USA will be an advocate for artists and their vital contributions to the social and economic health of the nation.

“At its best, art speaks to our minds, our souls, and our human spirit. Art’s impact extends far beyond galleries and concert halls, fostering educational advancement, fueling economic development, and building each generation’s cultural legacy,” said Susan Berresford, president of The Ford Foundation and board chair of United States Artists. “USA’s investment in the creative potential of our country will yield returns for us all.”

Spurred by research showing that artists in America are undervalued, United States Artists has created USA Fellows, an annual program where at least 50 outstanding American artists will each receive $50,000. Through this program, USA provides a structure for private donors, corporate philanthropies and foundations to come together to form a permanent endowment that will support individual artists in perpetuity. Arts patrons Agnes Gund of New York, Eli and Edythe Broad of Los Angeles, the Todd Simon Foundation of Nebraska, and Target Stores have already committed to underwriting USA Fellowships for the coming years.

For the inaugural 2006 USA Fellowships, expert panels are currently reviewing the work of more than 300 nominees representing every artistic discipline and 43 states, and ranging from 21 to 100 years of age. Recipients will be announced on December 4, 2006, in a ceremony to be held at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City

USA Fellowships - Through a nomination process, USA Fellowships are open to the more than 2 million artists living in the United States. The program supports artists in all career stages, including emerging artists and those at mid-career, as well as individuals who have achieved master status. Fellowships will be given across a broad array of disciplines, including architecture and design, craft/traditional art, dance, literary (fiction, non-fiction, poetry), media arts (audio, film, radio video), music, performance art, theater and the visual arts.

“Every day millions of dollars are invested in venture capital in this country. We believe that supporting art at the moment of creation is a similar investment, spurring vital innovations in culture. USA’s $50,000 grants provide artists time for ‘research and development,’ to bring forward projects that have been on the back burner, to test fresh ideas and to explore new artistic horizons,” said Katharine DeShaw, executive director for United States Artists.

Earlier this year, USA invited more than 150 arts leaders from every state in the nation to nominate up to five artists whose life and artistic production would be positively impacted by a $50,000 grant. Those artists were then invited to submit an application presenting a selection of their work, and describing the effect a USA Fellowship would have at this juncture of their careers. Applications are currently being reviewed by expert panels composed of artists, critics, scholars, and service leaders in the literary, media, performing and visual arts, who will then make final recommendations to the USA Board. The pools for nominators and panelists will be expanded and rotated each year, ensuring that the program taps the full spectrum of America’s artistic excellence.

“We hope USA extends far beyond the grants we give artists to pursue their work,” said Amada Cruz, USA’s program director. “I see a craft artist in a small town who suddenly is recognized by her community as a national treasure and is invited to work in local schools, inspiring a new generation to explore traditional arts processes. At the same time, I see a young multimedia artist, barely able to make ends meet, who can now focus full time on creating web-work and, in the process, advances the internet’s appeal as a creative medium.”

The USA Fellowship program is ultimately designed to operate in perpetuity through income generated by a permanent endowment USA plans to establish. Due to the seed funding of the four founding foundations, 100% of future donor contributions will directly support artists.

Inspiration and Need for USA - The formation of United States Artists was prompted by the Urban Institute’s 2003 breakthrough study, Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structures for U.S. Artists. This research found that artists are an essential part of the American workforce and contribute to their communities in unique ways, yet struggle to meet their most basic needs. While the private sector has contributed generously to cultural institutions’ infrastructures – new buildings for museums, theaters, opera houses, etc. – support for individual artists remains underdeveloped and underfinanced. At the same time, their employment patterns – typified by juggling creative activities with part-time or episodic work in related or unrelated positions – mean that artists are underpaid in relation to their education, skills, and societal contributions; lack financial security; and have very limited access to the employment-related benefits of their peers. Specific findings in the Urban Institute study include:

More than three-fourths of standard cash grants to individual artists are less than $10,000 and more than half are under $2,000. The median reported income for artists from their work as an artist was only $5,000.* 50% of artists with health insurance pay for their own coverage; in contrast 92% of insured U.S. workers are covered through their employers. * The study also investigated the public’s perceptions of artists. The most revealing finding was the paradox between the value ascribed to the artistic product as compared to the value attributed to the artists themselves. 96% of respondents said they were greatly inspired and moved by various kinds of art. However, only 27% of those respondents said that artists contribute “a lot” to the good of society. (For comparison, 63% gave that distinction to construction workers.) At the same time, new economic evidence, educational and social research, and community-development models are continuing to reveal the vital importance of artists as they interact with these sectors.

Numerous studies show the benefits of music, visual arts, and dance in early education for success in other academic areas, including math, reading and critical thinking. Despite this evidence, arts programs remain one of the first areas cut when schools must reduce their budgets. Artists work in the prison systems, at hospitals and retirement homes, with youth development and rehabilitation programs, and community development projects across the country. These social services provide unique benefits to underserved and particularly needy communities. In the face of a changing global economy, economists increasingly emphasize that the United States will have to rely on innovation, ingenuity, creativity, and analysis for its competitive edge – the very skills that can be enhanced by engagement with the arts. Artists drive the revitalization of neighborhoods throughout the U.S. and often provide energy that helps define “downtown” as cities strive to maintain their urban core. Places as diverse as Williamsburg, NY; Davenport, IA; Providence, RI; an