The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), on behalf of the McKnight Foundation, has announced the six recipients of the 2026 McKnight Fellowships for Visual Artists: Torey Erin, Isa Gagarin, Jay Heikes, Prima Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai, Jovan C. Speller, and Erinn Springer. Each mid-career Minnesota artist will receive a $25,000 stipend, professional development, public recognition, and a residency facilitated by the Artist Communities Alliance. The fellows were selected from 164 applicants by a national panel of jurors including Laura Mott, Michael Rooks, and Edra Soto.
The McKnight Foundation’s arts program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the U.S., and this fellowship underscores a longstanding commitment to supporting working artists in Minnesota. By providing unrestricted cash awards and professional encouragement, the program helps sustain the state’s creative ecosystem and recognizes the vital contributions of mid-career visual artists.