This marks the third year of the USA Fellows program, which honored recipients at a celebration at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art Nov. 10. Five theatre artists were among the 50 individuals selected; disciplines varied from architecture and design, music, crafts and traditional arts, literature and media to visual arts. Each recipient was awarded $50,000 in unrestricted funds in order to further their unique vision.

In addition to Kandel and Power, theatre artists honored as USA fellows also included Oregon Shakespeare Festival artistic director Bill Rauch, Pregones Theater artistic director Rosalba Rolón and dance and theatre lighting designer Jennifer Tipton.

The USA Fellows for 2008 hail from 21 states and range in age from 31 to 82. They were chosen by panels of experts in each field in recognition of the caliber and impact of their work.