Chicago artist Tonika Lewis Johnson can now add “genius” to her already robust resume.
The Englewood native — who is known for her large-scale, social-justice-oriented work, including the Folded Map Project — is among this year’s class of MacArthur Fellows.
The so-called “genius grants” have been awarded annually by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation since 1981 and come with $800,000 in no-strings-attached funding for each recipient. They recognize “exceptional creativity” and potential for future work, according to the foundation.
This year, there are 22 fellows from around the world, whose areas of expertise range from visual art and filmmaking to chemical engineering and astrophysics. California author Tommy Orange is also among this year’s recipients. His novel “There There” was the Chicago Public Library’s citywide read in 2023.
Other Midwest honorees include Ángel F. Adames Corraliza, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies the forces that drive tropical weather patterns, and Sébastien Philippe, a University of Wisconsin nuclear security specialist focused on examining the past harms and potential future risks from building, testing and storing launch-ready nuclear weapons.
Johnson said being among the recipients feels like validation, not just for her own creative output, but also for her South Side neighborhood.
“This recognition is proof that our neighborhoods are overflowing with creativity, resilience, and now we can say genius,” Johnson, 45, said. “It really belongs to Englewood and neighborhoods like mine. I’m just really happy to kind of be a mascot for the genius that always existed here. So, I accept it for myself, but it’s like I’m accepting this on behalf of the neighborhood.”
Through efforts like Folded Map — which compared corresponding addresses on the North and South sides to highlight Chicago’s deep-rooted segregation — Johnson’s work has focused on underscoring systemic inequities.
Her art has also called attention to predatory housing practices. Her public art project Inequity for Sale placed large black-and-yellow “landmark” signs outside houses sold to Black homeowners through “contract buying.” The practice in the 1950s and ’60s, sold homes to Black residents on contract, during which they earned no equity and faced higher interest rates and the threat of eviction if they missed even one payment.
Most recently, Johnson has led the charge to beautify the 6500 block of South Aberdeen Street through unBlocked Englewood, which is an ongoing project with the Chicago Bungalow Association to help residents repair their homes and acquire vacant lots.
Now, Johnson said, the MacArthur funding will afford her stability and the ability to “continue to think bigger.”
“Honestly and truly, it really does simply come down to having the stability to continue to do the work,” she said this week. “I don’t have to rely on funding from the project in order for me to have and support my own livelihood.”
With more solid ground beneath her, Johnson said she’s eager to bring her work to exhibition spaces.
“I’m not an exhibiting artist, since a lot of my work is participatory in the built environment,” she said. “Now that I have a large body of work, I think I’m now at the point where I can translate it into an exhibition space.”
She also wants to continue helping up-and-coming artists establish themselves as businesses. And, she’s working with other community partners to solidify 63rd Street in Englewood as an arts and culture destination.
“We really want to revitalize that corridor, but the barrier that we have is the negative narrative,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you develop in a neighborhood, if the entire country, city and world is told to not go there, then you can’t have foot traffic. And foot traffic is what anything needs. So I think arts and culture engagement is a way to serve as an invitation for people to get used to coming to a neighborhood they’ve been told not to.”
The coveted MacArthur award arrives in a moment when arts funding has been disrupted on the federal level. In recent months, President Donald Trump’s administration has retracted money awarded through the National Endowment for the Arts and changed the rules of who qualifies.
Last year, Chicago residents Ling Ma and Ebony G. Patterson were among those selected for the MacArthur Fellowship. Additional past Chicago winners include artist Amanda Williams, UChicago criminal justice professor Reuben Jonathan Miller and composer Tomeka Reid.
“The 2025 MacArthur Fellows expand the boundaries of knowledge, artistry, and human understanding,” Kristen Mack, MacArthur’s vice president of communications, fellows and partnership, said in a statement. “With virtuosity, persistence, and courage, they chart new paths toward collaborative, creative, and flourishing futures.”
2025 MacArthur Fellows
California:
Matt Black, photographer
Kareem El-Badry, astrophysicist
Tommy Orange, writer
Gala Porras-Kim, interdisciplinary artist
Teresa Puthussery, neurobiologist and optometrist
William Tarpeh, chemical engineer
Louisiana:
Garrett Bradley, filmmaker
Illinois:
Tonika Lewis Johnson, artist
Maine:
Jeremy Frey, visual artist
Margaret Wickens Pearce, cartographer
Maryland:
Hahrie Han, political scientist
Massachusetts:
Lauren K. Williams, mathematician
New York:
Heather Christian, performing artist
Kristina Douglass, archaeologist
Craig Taborn, performing artist
North Carolina:
Nabarun Dasgupta, epidemiologist
Rhode Island:
Ieva Jusionyte, anthropologist
Texas:
Jason McLellan, biologist
Wisconsin:
Ángel F. Adames Corraliza, atmospheric scientist
Sébastien Philippe, nuclear security specialist
International:
Toby Kiers (Amsterdam, Netherlands), biologist
Tuan Andrew Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), multidisciplinary artist
Gala Porras-Kim (London and Los Angeles), interdisciplinary artist
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.