Chicago’s MacArthur Fellows on Joining the ‘Genius’ Club


Twenty-four professionals across the United States have been named the 2017 MacArthur Foundation fellows. Two of them are Chicagoans who have made an impact on their communities.

Photographer Dawoud Bey has been taking photographs—mostly portrait photography —since the 1970s. His “Harlem USA” series is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. A professor at of art Columbia College, Bey has published several books of photography, including the acclaimed “Class Pictures.” He is represented locally by the Stephen Daiter Gallery.

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  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

  • (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

    (Courtesy of Dawoud Bey)

Rami Nashashibi is the executive director of IMAN, the Inner-City Muslim Action Network. IMAN is an organization that brings together people of different races, religions and classes in Chicago neighborhoods. Nashashibi and IMAN also spearhead the Green Re-Entry program, providing job skills to young people and those returning from prison.

Rami Nashashibi Rami Nashashibi

Bey and Nashashibi join “Chicago Tonight” to discuss the honor—and what they intend to do with the grant money ($625,000 in quarterly installments).

Video: In this 2007 Artbeat story, Dawoud Bey talks about his photography book “Class Pictures.”


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