Culture

Pitt professor Nicole Mitchell awarded $50,000 fellowship

For many artists, additional funding to create and support their craft is music to their ears.

Nicole Mitchell, chair of Pitt’s jazz studies program, was awarded a $50,000 USA Fellowship from United States Artists, the Chicago-based independent philanthropic organization announced on Wednesday.

The USA Fellowship is an unrestricted award that aims to recognize artists of various disciplines all across the country at various positions in their careers. The recipients fall into 10 categories, including writing, visual art and music, for which Mitchell was awarded.

Mitchell said via email she was honored to be recognized and receive the fellowship, and that she felt a responsibility to do positive work with it. 

In the turbulent times we live in, it’s extremely deep for me to be named a United States Artist, because it signals to me a glimmer of hope that there are prestigious institutions in this country that would encourage artists like myself that value Afrofuturism, intercultural collaboration, African diasporic cultural resilience and jazz,” she said. 

Past winners of the USA Fellowship include multiple Pittsburgh-based artists. Performance and video artist Bill Shannon, a fellow of the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO For Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, was awarded a fellowship in 2018, as was sculptor Vanessa German. Pittsburgh artists Jasiri X and Terrance Hayes won the fellowship in 2015 and 2011, respectively.

Mitchell began her tenure at Pitt last fall semester, after her January 2019 appointment to the position. During this time, she has spearheaded the Creative Arts Ensemble and organized Pitt’s 49th annual Jazz Seminar last October.

culturedesk

Share
Published by
culturedesk

Recent Posts

Opinion | How did this happen?

Thomas and I spent most of the election night texting back and forth. We both…

48 mins ago

Opinion | Intimacy is not reserved for romantic relationships

Chances are, during college, you’re going to crash out over nothing and live in a…

54 mins ago

Sam Clancy: A guarantee on Pittsburgh’s Mount Rushmore

Pittsburgh is home to some of the most important figures in sports history –– so…

2 hours ago

‘I’ll get through these next four years’: Pitt students divided over Trump’s victory, with mixed emotions on campus

As the news echoes across campus, Pitt students are grappling with mixed emotions about the…

2 hours ago

Faculty Assembly discusses antisemitic violence on campus, announces antisemitic ad-hoc committee 

On Wednesday, Nov. 6., Faculty Assembly reflected on the 2024 presidential election, addressed recent acts…

2 hours ago

DePasquale, Democrat watch party brings feelings of optimism in the community

A watch party held at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers for Pennsylvania attorney general candidate…

2 hours ago