Two Island artists — poet Joy Harjo and entertainer-kumu hula Robert Cazimero — today were named USA Fellows and will each receive grants of $50,000 in recognition of their cultural contributions.

The pair were among 50 recipients of USA Felllowship for 2008, totalling $2.5 million. The grants recognize and reward a wide range of creativity — in the fields of architecture and design, crafts and traditional arts, dance, literature, media arts, music, theater arts, and visual arts.

All 50 awardees will be honored tonight at a celebration at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. They will be joined by other 2008 winners, as well as previous awardees, in a gala at the Chicago museum.

Harjo is a Tulsa-born American Indian poet, musician and author, has edited literary journals, written poems, authored screenplays and performed tenor saxophone with a band named Poetic Justice.

Cazimero is one-half of The Brothers Cazimero, a reigning performing and composing duo of Hawaiian music, and kumu hula of Halau Na Kamalei, a dance group which previously won the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo which earlier this year performed in New York City.

The 50 awardees come from 21 states, whose ages range from 31 to 82, reflecting a diverse range of cultural, ethnic and geographic perspectives. Cazimero's win represents a Hawaiian presence on the national scene.

The grants from the national artists' advocacy organization, United States Artists (USA), are now in the third year, demonstrating an investment in the creative arts in a time of economic struggles. To date, $7.5 million have been awarded to U.S. artists in the creative and performing arts.

"Artists drive our nation's cultural life and give voice to who we are and where we're headed," said Susan V. Berresford, USA board chairwoman and former president of the Ford Foundation, in a statement. "Many of this country's two million artists struggle to make ends meet and, particularly in this challenging economic climate, it is essential to invest in our nation's finest creative voices."