MacDowell Awards 149 Fall Winter Fellowships to Artists Working Across Disciplines

New York, NY [September 2, 2025] – MacDowell, the nation’s first artist residency program, has awarded 149 Fellowships to visionary artists working across seven disciplines, representing 25 states and Washington D.C., as well as 16 countries, for its Fall 2025 Winter 2026 season. These distinguished artists will arrive at MacDowell’s historic campus in Peterborough, New Hampshire between September 2025 and February 2026, each with an average stay of four weeks. Selected from a highly competitive pool of 1,697 applicants, with an acceptance rate of just 9 percent, Fellows are accepted solely based on the artistic excellence of their work, as evaluated by independent panels of discipline specific experts.  

The incoming group of MacDowell Fellows includes filmmakers *Sophia Nahli Allison and *Jodie Mack; theatre artist *Paul Lazar and playwright *Christopher Shinn; composers *Paul Brantley and *Marti Epstein; writers *Elif Batuman, *Susan Choi, *Victor Lodato, *Alex Mar, *Leila Mottley, *Cecily Parks, David Velasco, and *Ayelet Waldman; visual artists *Jane Fine, Miles Greenberg, *Rachel Perry, and *Carla Shapiro; interdisciplinary artists and collaborators *Alina Troyano, Ela Troyano; and architects *Gail Peter Borden and Joyce Hsiang. 

MacDowell’s Executive Director Chiwoniso Kaitano shares, “I am, as always, delighted to announce this latest group of MacDowell Fellows. These extraordinary artists, whose work spans a wide array of disciplines, embody the diverse and vital role of the arts in our culture. Each year, MacDowell gets to experience and support the innovative work our Fellows create while in residence. We look forward to welcoming this season of Fellows whose work challenges conventions, expands perspectives, and demonstrates the transformative power of the creative mind.” 

Twice each year, MacDowell convenes esteemed panels of professionals— recognized leaders in their respective fields— who assess applications anonymously. Selection is based on the merit of submitted work samples and project proposals, allowing the creative voice and vision of applicants to speak for themselves. 

“We received a wide range of thoughtful and creative applications this season,” says Courtney Bethel, MacDowell’s Admissions Director. “It was a pleasure to engage with so many artists with distinct voices and ideas shaping the arts today, and we are excited to welcome this new group of Fellows.” 

During their time at MacDowell, Fellows are granted the gift of uninterrupted focus, supported by a private studio, comfortable accommodations, and three thoughtfully prepared meals each day. Residencies may last up to six weeks. The next application deadline, for the Spring Summer 2026 season, is September 10, 2025.  

The artists awarded Fall 2025 Winter 2026 MacDowell Fellowships include: 

Architecture: *Gail Peter Borden, Clare Fentress, Joyce Hsiang, Leyuan Li, Francesco Marullo, and Elsa Ponce. 

Music Composition: Matthew Barnson, *Paul Brantley, Kai-Young Chan, *Eric Chasalow, *Marti Epstein, *Michael Fiday, *John Fitz Rogers, Samuel Garrett, YoungJun Lee, *Žibuokle Martinaityte, Paul Novak, Sami Seif, Benjamin Webster, and *Beth Wiemann. 

Film/Video Arts: *Sophia Nahli Allison, *Mateo Bendesky, Paulo Carneiro, Antoine Chapon, Chris Gude, lydia marie hicks, *Jodie Mack, Lisa Malloy, Veronica Melendez, Elliot Montague, Leonardo Pirondi, *Iva Radivojevic, *Katy Scoggin, Danski Tang, Alex Westfall, and Daphne Xu. 

Interdisciplinary Arts: Zain Alam, golden lionheart collier, Matty Davis, Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet, Malik Gaines, Petra Kuppers, *David Levine, Alexandro Segade, Sara Shelton Mann, Bolun Shen, marion spencer, *Alina Troyano, Ela Troyano, Sugar Vendil, *Katie Vida, and *Brent Watanabe.  

Theatre Arts: Kimberly Belflower, Paul Castles, *Lisa Sanaye Dring, Sean Dunnington, Dave Harris, Tife Kusoro, *Paul Lazar, Namoo Chae Lee, Forest Malley, Karin McCracken, Helen Paris, Novid Parsi, *Christopher Shinn, and Marissa Joyce Stamps. 

Visual Arts: Austin Ballard, Allison Bianco, Maura Brewer, Irakli Bugiani, Tom Burckhardt, *James Casebere, *Nancy Cohen, Esperanza Cortés, Dan Devening, Dance Doyle, *Tannaz Farsi, *Jane Fine, Miles Greenberg, Apolline Guillerot-Malick, *Jessica Halonen, Josephine Halvorson, *Clarity Haynes, Sophiya Khwaja, *Justine Kurland, *Rachel Perry, *Christopher Robbins, *Carla Shapiro, *Susan May Tell, and Malaika Temba. 

Literature: Pelumi Adejumo, *Susan Barba, *Elif Batuman, Nini Berndt, Flora Carr, *Susan Choi, Conyer Clayton, Charmaine Craig, Clayton Dalton, Soleil David, Melissa Ditmore, *Jennifer Down, Nikhil Eapen, Samuel Espíndola Hernández, Zite Ezeh, Rickey Fayne, Carolyn Forché, Evan Gershkovich, Elisa Gonzalez, *David Gorin, Amanda Gunn, *J.C. Hallman, Rachel James, Ana Kinsella, Sarah LaBrie, *Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Lydia T. Liu, *Victor Lodato, *Bridget Lowe, *Alex Mar, Sabrina Orah Mark, Francisco Márquez, *Lydia Martín, Brendan Mathews, Trey Moody, Lena Moses-Schmitt, *Leila Mottley, *Yxta Maya Murray, Joshua Myers, *Cecily Parks, Prudence Peiffer, Nina Perrotta, Amelia Possanza, Summer Praetorius, Tamar Raphael, Belinda Rathbone, *Tanya Rey, Josh Riedel, Jordy Rosenberg, *Amy Rowland, Maureen “Mo” Ryan, Annaka Saari, Jennifer Shyue, Erin Singer, Anjan Sundaram, Morgan Thomas, David Velasco, *Ayelet Waldman, and Jane Yeh. 

For over a century, MacDowell has remained a sanctuary for artistic exploration and achievement. Its alumni have shaped culture on a national and global scale, earning countless honors in the arts. To open the residency to the broadest possible community of artists, MacDowell offers travel assistance and need-based stipends to ensure that artists from all walks of life can pursue their work in an environment of peace, purpose, and creative freedom.  

(*) Asterisk indicates a returning MacDowell Fellow 

Made at MacDowell for 118 Years | Founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and pianist Marian MacDowell, MacDowell is the nation’s first artist residency program. It was established to nurture the arts by providing exceptional creative individuals with an inspiring environment to produce enduring works of the imagination. Honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1997, MacDowell hosts 300 artists annually—including architects, composers, filmmakers, interdisciplinary artists, theatre artists, visual artists, and writers—from across the U.S. and around the world. Over the past 118 years, more than 16,000 residencies have been awarded to distinguished artists such as James Baldwin, Charlie Kaufman, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Louise Erdrich, Suzan-Lori Parks, Ayad Akhtar, Laura Poitras, Faith Ringgold, Meredith Monk, Osvaldo Golijov, Sam Grabiner, Ersela Kripa, Alyson Shotz, Maya Ciarrocchi, and jaamil olawale kosoko. 

For more information, contact Jericho Parms, Chief Advancement Officer, jparms@macdowell.org, (212) 535-9690