Each spring, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announces its latest class of Fellows—an annual roster of artists, writers, and scholars whose work is deemed vital, visionary, and worth investing in. The Guggenheim Fellowships are among the most prestigious awards in American intellectual and creative life. And in this centennial year, three Hudson Valley-based artists have joined their storied ranks: violinist Gwen Laster of Beacon, choreographer Jeanine Durning of Newburgh, and photographer Lucas Blalock, a Bard College professor.
The Foundation selected 198 fellows from nearly 3,500 applicants across 53 disciplines, including everything from astrophysics to choreography. Bard College scored a twofer: Laster is a visiting artist in residence in the Music Program, and Blalock is an assistant professor in the Photography Program and a Bard alum (Class of ’02). Their selection not only underscores the depth of creative capital in the region, but also the institution’s outsized presence in the national arts landscape.
Lucas Blalock, who lives in Brooklyn and teaches in Annandale, has built a career on delightfully disorienting photographic compositions that blur the line between the real and the digitally altered. His work has been shown internationally and is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney, MoMA, the Guggenheim, and others. He’s also a prolific critic and essayist, publishing in Artforum, Foam, Objectiv, BOMB, and IMA. His photographs—often banal scenes rendered bizarre through subtle manipulations—raise questions about perception, artifice, and the image economy. As with his work, Blalock’s teaching bridges craft and concept, grounding the theoretical in the tactile.
Gwen Laster, a Detroit native who now lives in Beacon, brings a polyglot sensibility to her violin. Rooted in classical training, her compositions incorporate jazz, blues, funk, and the deep traditions of African-American music. Her ensemble, the New MUSE4tet, performs “music for social justice” and has become a mainstay at progressive music festivals. Laster’s long list of accolades includes support from the NEA, Lila Wallace Foundation, and Arts Mid-Hudson. She’s also worked as a string arranger for the likes of Anthony Braxton and Aretha Franklin. Her pedagogy—on display both in Beacon and at Bard—emphasizes improvisation, cultural literacy, and music’s capacity to shape civic life.
Jeanine Durning, based in Newburgh, is a choreographer and performer whose work explores language, presence, and embodiment. Her most widely performed solo, “ingenious beginning,” is an hour-long improvisational monologue where speech becomes movement and movement becomes speech. Her practice has been described as a kind of “experimental philosophy in motion,” and she has presented work across North America and Europe. Durning has also been a tireless educator, teaching at institutions from SNDO in Amsterdam to Movement Research in New York City.
As the Guggenheim Foundation enters its second century, its message is clear: Despite the noise, art—and artists—still matter. This year’s Fellows range in age from 32 to 79. Some are tenured, others untethered. All are united in their pursuit of deep, meaningful inquiry. And this year, three of them call the Hudson Valley home.
