Overview
- The MacArthur Foundation announced the 20-member 2026 fellows class on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, and each recipient will receive $800,000 paid over five years for unrestricted use.
- The selection follows the foundation’s confidential nominating process that accepts no applications and requires no progress reports from fellows.
- Reporters and winners noted a clear thematic tilt toward history and memory, with projects examining colonial violence, Indigenous resilience, racial inequality and how communities remember the past.
- Several named recipients described how they will use the prize to reach wider publics: jazz composer Immanuel Wilkins through immersive performance, economist Ellora Derenoncourt to translate research on racial wealth gaps for policymakers, and painter Vincent Valdez to counter public 'social amnesia.'
- The awards span arts, sciences and social sciences across three continents and four decades of age, and the foundation’s flexible funding is expected to expand recipients’ capacity for experimental work and public engagement while influencing research and policy debates.