Pink Fang Artistic Director, New Work Mei Ann Teo Named 2026 United States Artist Fellow

Pink Fang has  announces dhat Mei Ann Teo, Artistic Director, New Work of Pink Fang and a theater maker and director, has been named a 2026 United States Artist Fellow, an award that recognizes artists who are shaping our cultural landscape.

Teo is among 50 artists nationwide selected to receive the $50,000 unrestricted USA Fellowship, awarded annually by United States Artists in recognition of artistic vision, impact, and leadership. The Fellowship provides artists with the freedom to invest in their creative practices, communities, and livelihoods in ways they determine best.

“I'm deeply honored to be in the 2026 USA Artists cohort and the legions of artist heroes we join- including Ping Chong who received this award in the inaugural cohort 20 years ago. This recognition is powerfully affirming as my artistic home is now Pink Fang, where Ping Chong's legacy of genre breaking interdisciplinary performance and social change are at the core.” 

As Artistic Director, New Work of Pink Fang, Teo, in partnership with Sara Zatz, Artistic Director, Engagement and Jane Jung, Managing Director, has been instrumental in guiding the organization through a multi-year transition rooted in shared leadership, intergenerational exchange, and the activation of the Ping Chong archive. Teo works internationally as a director, theater maker, and cultural leader and centers collaboration over hierarchy, foregrounding process, community accountability, and care as artistic values. The Table, their inaugural work for the Pink Fang, made with theatremaker and choreographer Erika Chong Shuch, will premiere at Judson Memorial Church this June. 

Pink Fang's current and upcoming work—including Memory Generation by Sara Zatz (Pink Fang Artistic Director, Engagement) and Sherrine Azab (Co-Director of A Host of People), The Table, commissions of multiphyphenate artists Chaesong Kim and Troy Anthony, Pink Fang Resident Artist Nile Harris' tour of this house is not a home  to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the ongoing stewardship of five decades of interdisciplinary performance—reflects the company's commitment to building art that responds to the urgencies of the present while honoring lineage and legacy.

United States Artists announced the full cohort of 2026 Fellows as part of its 20th anniversary, marking two decades of unrestricted support for artists across disciplines and geographies.

More information about the 2026 USA Fellows can be found at unitedstatesartists.org.