Hudson-based artist Nathan Young has been named a 2026 Fellow by United States Artists, one of the country’s most significant sources of unrestricted support for working artists. The fellowship includes a $50,000 grant intended to give recipients flexibility to support their creative practices, personal needs, and community commitments.
Young is among 50 artists selected nationwide for the 2026 cohort, announced as United States Artists marks its 20th anniversary. Founded in 2005, the Chicago-based organization has distributed more than $53 million in direct support to artists across disciplines, emphasizing unrestricted funding as a way to sustain long-term creative work rather than project-based outcomes.
An artist, scholar, and composer, Young works in an expanded interdisciplinary practice that incorporates sound, video, documentary, animation, installation, and experimental and improvised music. His work frequently engages spiritual and political themes, drawing on Indigenous sacred imagery to challenge conventional ideas of the sublime. Young is an enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians and a direct descendant of the Pawnee Nation and Kiowa Tribe. He is originally from Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and is a founding and former member of the influential artist collective Postcommodity.
United States Artists selects fellows through a year-long, peer-led process across 10 disciplines, with an emphasis on artistic vision, originality, and the potential impact of unrestricted support. In addition to the $50,000 award, fellows receive access to professional resources such as financial planning, legal advice, and career consulting, reflecting the organization’s broader approach to artist sustainability.
Young’s work has been shown widely, including a recent local exhibition at Art Omi in 2024, where his project “Tune It or Die” explored sound, endurance, and collective experience within a sculptural and performative framework. His selection places him within a national cohort of artists working across visual art, music, performance, film, and media, whose practices often intersect with social histories, overlooked narratives, and community-based engagement.
The 2026 fellowship recognizes Young’s ongoing contributions to contemporary art and sound practice, while providing material support that allows artists to determine for themselves how best to sustain and expand their work.
