Fiber faculty member Piper Shepard and Jacolby Satterwhite '08 (Painting) were just awarded fellowships by United States Artists (USA) for innovation in the arts. This year, 46 artists received grants.

USA's 2016 fellows were selected from over 500 artists nominated by their peers, and chosen by panels of experts in each discipline. Shepard was named a USA Distinguished Fellow in crafts and Satterwhite was named a USA Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz Fellow in visual arts.

"I am honored to be a recipient of such a prestigious award, and to be in the company of so many esteemed artists," said Shepard, who has taught in MICA's Fiber department since 1994. "Receiving an award of this kind, and at this point in my life as an artist, is deeply gratifying and poignant. I recognize it acknowledges the body of work I have made, but I am excited to look to the future and pursue the next stage of my evolving practice and growth as an artist."

Shepard's other honors include four Individual Artists Awards from The Maryland State Arts Council in Crafts, a 2016 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, a National Endowment for the Arts and a Creative Arts Exchange Program grant.

"This is an incredible honor that will allow me to facilitate one of the most challenging projects I've faced so far," said Satterwhite. "As a MICA alumnus, this award is proof that the difficult foundation of my education paid off and translated well through my many artistic reinventions over the years." Among the featured artists in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, Satterwhite was recently selected to participate in the Berlin Bienniale 9 (2016) and was named a "Young Artist to Watch in 2017" by Cultured magazine.

Founded in 2006 by the Ford, Rockefeller, Rasmuson and Prudential Foundations, USA is among the largest providers of unrestricted support to American artists. To date, USA has provided almost $25 million in the form of unrestricted $50,000 awards directly to nearly 500 artists working in the fields of architecture & design, crafts, dance, literature, media, music, theater & performance, traditional arts and visual arts. Past awardees include film director Barry Jenkins, composer David Lang, novelist Annie Proulx, playwright David Henry Hwang, choreographer Bill T. Jones and visual artist Kara Walker.

Past USA Fellows from MICA include Chat Traviosa '07 and Joyce J. Scott '70.