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the Macarthurs pass me over again...

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This morning's New York Times reports the names of the recipients of this year's Macarthur Foundation Genius Grants, and once again, therieb has been passed over. How is it possible that the committee who rains $500,000 gifts on unsuspecting artists, scientists, and thinkers is unaware of my genius? Of course I'm not serious. I have no more chance of winning a Macarthur than anyone who reads these essays, but when I read the list every year I can't help but get a little pang and wonder what would it be like to get that call that says that all of my financial worries for the next five years are over. Better still, what would it be like to be the kind of person doing the kind of work that gets noticed by the Macarthur people?

For those of you who are not familiar with how the Macarthur foundation doles out money, it goes like this: no one applies for the Genius Grant. There are no forms to fill out, no application to write. The good people at Macarthur don't want to disturb their geniuses with paperwork. Instead, the foundation spends a year crossing the globe looking for candidates who are doing amazing things in various subjects. Two of their favorite categories of beneficiaries are scientists and artists. Some years the winners fit into a broad theme like “people on the cutting edge of change,” whatever that means. The committee narrows the field, makes its decisions, and then starts making phone calls. “Hello, we're the Macarthur people, where would you like your $500,000? No strings attached, just keep doing what you're doing. Cool, thanks, bye.”

One of this year's winners is Tara Donovan, an American sculptor. When asked what she would do with her prize, she answered simply “make art and pay taxes.” Ugh, that pang again. It burns! It burns! It hurts so much because I feel that money issues are holding me back from being a genius artist myself. When I get up to write the notion of unpaid bills is a huge albatross. What to invest? How to invest? Is my time without a real job running out? These questions ring in my head like enormous bells, and no creative sound can break through the droning. What a relief it must be to have all of that worry taken away with a phone call. No more problems, just time to concentrate, time to think. That most simple of pleasures, to be alone with one's thoughts and to share those thoughts with others, that is what I hear when Donovan says “make art and pay taxes.”

Of course my excuse for not writing is an extraordinarily poor one. Macarthur winners were busily solving problems, making art, and improving the world before the phone rang with the good news. The one rule the Macarthur people seem to adhere to very carefully is they have very little appetite for risk. They reward people with solid track records for doing amazing things. All therieb has to offer is amazing potential, (if I do say so myself, and I do) but very little to go on in the concrete evidence of genius department. So I forgive the Macarthur folks for passing me over; this fall is no time for risky investments.

As wonderful as receiving a Genius Grant would be, wouldn't it be even more satisfying to give them? Imagine being able to satisfy the needs of people who are actually making a difference, perhaps even a breakthrough? Imagine having no limits, no constraints. You could give this money to anyone you want, to people that aren't usually recognized. You could be a super-hero, righting the wrongs of the grant world! But even more powerful than that, you could be a message to everyone who doesn't get a grant. Your message is: “Keep working! Keep doing what you're doing! In spite of all evidence to the contrary, someone may pay attention. Don't strive to fit into category! Fight on and do your thing!”

That, to me is the real power of the Macarthur Genius Grant. I don't expect people to strive in order to receive one. Rather, they should take comfort in the idea that people like them have been recognized, and that occasionally even those off the beaten path make an impact. Imagine a world filled with grants like the Macarthur. Given that the wealth gap continues to increase, it's not too much of a stretch. Imagine a world in which thinking and creativity are rewarded, and not only when the thinking results in a new formula for shampoo.

So here's a salute to this year's Macarthur winners. You carry the light of hope for the rest of us, that someday we too will be able to untether, if only temporarily, from the cares of the modern world.