Flagstaff public artist Chip Thomas is among this year’s group of 20 MacArthur Fellows.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced its 2026 class of recipients of its prestigious "Genius Grant," as it’s often called, on Tuesday.
Each fellow receives an $800,000 no-strings-attached stipend for their work.
Thomas is known for his largescale wheat paste murals on the Navajo Nation. His work often includes portraits of Navajo people and are affixed to abandoned buildings, grain silos and other roadside structures.
“The portraits of Diné People of various ages and images of sheep, horses, and the landscape turn the structures into sites of cultural memory and affirmation,” wrote the MacArthur Foundation. “Thomas has deeply engaged with local communities and worked with small institutions across the country to create similar murals that reflect their lives.”
Since 2009 Thomas has addressed the legacies of colonial violence and environmental degradation along with missing and murdered Indigenous peoples and the impacts of historical and modern uranium mining.
He formed the Painted Desert Project in 2012, which brought street artists from around the world for a residency on the Navajo Nation. Thomas has also been involved in numerous other installations and exhibits throughout the country.
Thomas worked as a physician on the Navajo Nation for 36 years at the Inscription House Health Center on the Navajo Nation.
