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Musician With East LA's Quetzal Awarded $800,000 MacArthur 'Genius Grant'
Martha Gonzalez, center, has been selected as a 2022 MacArthur Fellow.
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Courtesy MacArthur Foundation
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Topline:
Los Angeles's Martha Gonzalez, described by the MacArthur Foundation as a "musician, scholar, and artist/activist," was announced as one of 2022's MacArthur Fellows — the prize unofficially known as the MacArthur "Genius Grant."
Her background: She's the lead singer, songwriter, and percussionist for socially conscious East Los Angeles music collective Quetzal. She's involved in several collaborative music and dance-based projects.
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Gonzalez is also an associate professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies at the Claremont Colleges and director of the Scripps Humanities Institute.
The MacArthur Fellowship: Gonzalez is one of 25 MacArthur Fellows announced Thursday. They will each receive an $800,000 award, which they can use as they see fit. The MacArthur Foundation describes the prize on its website as a "no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential."
Go deeper: You can read more about 2022's MacArthur Fellows in this story from NPR.
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