Sonya Clark (BFA 1993). Photo: Diego Valdez. Professor Emeritus Anne Wilson and Guanyu Xu (BFA 2016, MFA 2019). Photos courtesy of the artists.
Three SAIC Community Members Named 2026 Guggenheim Fellows
Three School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) community members are among the 223 artists and scholars named to the 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship class. The honorees are Professor Emeritus Anne Wilson, alum Sonya Clark (BFA 1993), and alum Guanyu Xu (BFA 2016, MFA 2019). Fellowships are awarded annually by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to support mid-career individuals pursuing independent work across more than 55 disciplines. Wilson is a professor emeritus in Fiber and Material Studies who works with sculpture, material drawings, and performances grounded in a textile language. Clark is a fiber artist known for using hair, textile, and craft to explore Black American history, commodities, and culture. Xu, a Beijing-born, Chicago-based artist, works across photography, new media, and installation to negotiate questions of queerness, power, personal freedom, and identity across national borders.
When the Obama Presidential Center opens June 19, the creative impact of SAIC won't be hard to find.
Photo by Angie McMonigal, Courtesy of the Obama Presidential Center