UMKC Conservatory professor Gary Abbott has been awarded a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship for choreography from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Abbott has taught modern dance at UMKC for 11 years. He has danced in and choreographed productions across the country and internationally. Abbott is also a cofounder of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater in Chicago, focused on diversifying contemporary dance by bringing together modern, classical and African American traditions.
“Being named a Guggenheim fellow feels like an affirmation of the work I’ve been doing,” said Abbott. “It’s given me energy to keep creating and reminds me that I’m doing this for more than just myself. I could never have created the work I have done by myself; it’s been the spiritual generosity of my family and friends that moved me to make dances.”
The Guggenheim Fellowship is considered a highly prestigious and competitive award. The Guggenheim Foundation received nearly 2,500 applications and selected 180 fellowships for the 2022 class. Abbott is the seventh UMKC faculty member to receive the fellowship while teaching at UMKC; he joins the late Michelle Boisseau (poetry, 2017), Elijah Gowin (photography, 2008), Christie Hodgen (fiction, 2011), Clancy Martin (fiction, 2011), James Mobberley (music composition, 1992) and Paul Rudy (music composition, 2008).
“Being named a Guggenheim fellow feels like an affirmation of the work I’ve been doing. It’s given me energy to keep creating and reminds me that I’m doing this for more than just myself." —
The fellowship includes a monetary gift to complete a creative project. Abbott’s project will be centered around the prison system’s effect on the Black community; he first explored this subject when he created a dance titled, “Breaking the Dam: Mass Incarceration.”
“Gary’s gorgeous choreography and dance have long been known to the Conservatory and Kansas City, but his well-deserved Guggenheim Fellowship will allow people across the country to discover his artistry,” said Andrew Granade, interim dean of the Conservatory. “Gary’s Guggenheim is just another example of why the UMKC Conservatory is the place to study dance in the Midwest.”
“I’ve had the good fortune to work with so many brilliant artists,” said Abbott. “I’m constantly reminded that I work around and with some fantastic people.”