MacArthur Genius Grant

Banker, Genius, Good Guy

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Jose Quinonez

Jose Quinonez, 2016 MacArthur Fellow, Mission Asset Fund, San Francisco/CA, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016.

In the years following the sub-prime and related financial crises, bankers got a thorough drubbing in the global imagination. But we have been depending on bankers in all our business and conservation activities all these years and never yet met a bad apple in the bunch. Still, kind of surprised to see a banker chosen for the prestigious awards we follow each year.  This year we are happy to see some extra coverage of the recipients of this award, as the following illustrates:

A Newly Minted MacArthur Genius on the Financially ‘Invisible’

“I wanted to change the world. I didn’t think I was going to do that by being a loan servicer.”

José Quiñonez has spent most of the past decade helping the financially invisible build credit and obtain loans. Continue reading →

Beadwork Worthy Of A Genius

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scott-intwined-neckpiecehi-res

Political beadwork.

We enjoy this time of year when the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grants are awarded, since they invariably make for great reading, and usually great viewing or listening as well. Here is another one, thanks to Quartz for this summary and short profile to accompany the images of this recipient’s work:

Photos: The jewelry and sculptures about racism and sexism that earned Joyce J. Scott a MacArthur “genius” award

Lila MacLellan

A beaded necklace is an unlikely place to find a narrative about race, history, and slavery, says Lowery Sims, curator emerita at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York. But that surprise factor is part of the allure of Joyce J. Scott’s art. “Technically it’s breathtaking, it’s intimate, it’s intricate—but it’s also a very powerful statement about the world and some of the issues we face as human beings,” Sims says. Continue reading →