Nicole Eisenman, the artist, was in the meat section of a Fire Island grocery store, buying bacon.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the best-selling nonfiction book “Between the World and Me,” was at home in his Paris apartment when the call came.
“I wished I could be cool,” Mr. Coates said in a telephone interview. “But you just can’t be cool.”
3 comments:
A MacArthur Genius Grant entitles the folks who are given the prize 625,000 dollars over 5 years to do with as they see fit. By being recognized as having that special sauce that makes someone a "genius", they get the cash stipend to do with as they see fit. This year's geniuses are an artist, a novelist, and the creator of In The Heights and Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda. The debate here comes from the idea of whether or not writing rap musicals classifies you as a genius. Now, Hamilton has been getting rave reviews across the board for it's way of handling race in America and unique subject matter for Broadway (there is really only one other famous musical about the creation of America, 1776). Hamilton has been called many things, including "the musical of our generation", a phrase overheard in the halls of Carnegie Mellon. Now, what is it about the show that actually makes it so supposedly transcendent? What is it about the thought of a rap musical that won this man a genius grant? I don't really have the answers, and in my time listening to the Hamilton recording, I just heard a sequel to in the heights, or a prequel, as it were.
I had never heard of the MacArthur Genius Grants before this year. They sound like such a wonderful cause, but I would love to know more about how they are chosen each year. $625,000 is a lot of money for one person, and I am curious how they choose who the grants should go to, especially since the funds can be used with "no strings attached."
Regardless, it sounds like this year's grants went to a really great group of people, many of them being artists. I can't imagine how freeing this money must be for the artists who receive it. Basically, it means they can practice their craft for 5 years without having to worry about feeding their families. They can create risky work that they wouldn't normally take on without the extra money being in the picture. I can only imagine the type of work people like Lin Manuel-Miranda will do with this money supporting them. Perhaps Lin will be able to produce 5 more mega hit musicals in the next 5 years since he won't have to take on so many side projects!
I wish this article gave a little bio about each of the grant winners. Lin Manuel is super well known, but I would have loved to learn about the other "geniuses" and the work they have to offer our world. I will keep my eyes peeled in the next 5 years for this extraordinary group's work.
Every year, I always like to browse the list of those who have won the MacArthur Genius Grant Awards. It is always such an interesting, smart group of people. It is great seeing all the the innovations going on in all different fields. I also think that it is great the Lin-Manuel Miranda won a grant. He deserves it completely, as his work on Hamilton in groundbreaking. I also saw that a set designer won, which I always love to see, as theatre technicians are not usually recognized for these types of things.
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