USA Fellows Rick Lowe, Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Laura Kurgan and Neil Denari. (clockwise starting top left)

As Core's own Lisa Smith pointed out in August in her post on design clubs in America, American designers lack the varied support system of government funding and grants currently available to artists in the U.S. USA (United States Artists) is one of a handful of organizations inclusive of designers in their granting of fellowships, and they announced their 2009 fellows this week. Five designers were among the 50 recipients, each awarded with an unrestricted $50,000, given "to invest in America's finest artists and illuminate the value of artists to society."

The Architecture & Design winners: progressive architect Neil Denari; data visualization designer Laura Kurgan; designers and founders of fashion label Rodarte, sisters Kate & Laura Mulleavy; and Rick Lowe, "21st century Renaissance man" working with underserved communities. Stephen Burks of Readymade Projects was a 2008 recipient of the award and served on the Architecture and Design category selection panel this year.

The awards began in 2006, with only one recipient in the Architecture and Design category that year. The Visual Arts and Literature categories boast the most winners each year, but the Architecture and Design category has maintained 3-5 recipients for the last three years. It's great to see funding for forward-thinking arts and design, from an organization recognizing that "aesthetics alone cannot achieve change, and today's leaders in the design arts are reformulating their role in the greater community of makers by reconfiguring what constitutes excellence in design that is also socially relevant."

more images of the designers' work after the jump

more on the Architecture and Design panel here

Rick Lowe's Project Row Houses in Houston.

Neil Denari's Alan-Voo House.