Ten artists connected to the California Institute of the Arts have been named among the recipients of the 2026–27 California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships for Los Angeles County. The fellowships, announced on October 9 by Los Angeles Performance Practice, distribute $800,000 in unrestricted funding to 101 artists across three career tiers, with recipients chosen from 1,226 applications. The awards are unrestricted, leaving each recipient free to decide how the money best supports their practice.

Three CalArts names appear in the Established Artist tier, each receiving $10,000. They are Eva Aguila, a 2005 theatre graduate; Evelyn Hum Serrano, who completed her art MFA in 2004; and Lars Jan, a 2008 theatre graduate who now leads the directing programme in CalArts' School of Theater. The tier recognises artists with a sustained record of work and community engagement.

Seven CalArts alumni feature in the Emerging Artist tier, each receiving $5,000. The group spans music, art and film and video graduates: April Dawn Guthrie, Fía Benitez, Hae-Joon Lee, Jordan Wong, Kiko Thomas, Lu Coy and Nathan Cheung. The emerging tier supports artists in the early stages of presenting work publicly, building community connections and finding ongoing resources for their practice.

Fellowship recipients also gain access to professional development and exchange with other artists during the fellowship period, which runs through August 31, 2027. For Coy, the award offers time and resources to pursue research-led work that returns overlooked histories, languages and musical traditions to the community. The full list of recipients is published on the Los Angeles Performance Practice website.