Newport’s Nick Benson Awarded Prestigious $500,000 Genius Grant

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

GoLocalProv Lifestyle Team

Third-generation stone carver, calligrapher, and designer Nicholas Benson, 46, of Newport, was just named one of 23 MacArthur Fellows for 2010. Benson is receiving one of the $500,000 “genius grants” announced this morning by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Benson’s family-run John Stevens Shop was established in 1705 and is one of the longest continuously running trade businesses in the country. His inscriptions and decorative reliefs are found on prominent memorials and buildings throughout the U.S. including the National World War II Memorial, National Gallery of Art and the in-progress Dr. Martin Luther King National Memorial, all in Washington, D.C. The $500,000 grant, paid quarterly over five years, comes with no strings attached, allowing winners unfettered freedom to pursue their creativity. “This group of Fellows, along with the more than 800 who have come before, reflects the tremendous breadth of creativity among us,” said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. “They are explorers and risk takers, contributing to their fields and to society in innovative, impactful ways. They provide us all with inspiration and hope for the future.”

Other Winners With RI Links

Other recipients with history in the Ocean State include Kelly Benoit Bird, a marine biologist and professor at Oregon State University, and Sebastian Ruth, founder of Providence-based Community MusicWorks, an organization that give lessons and musical instruments to students in low-income neighborhoods for free. Both are Brown University alumni.