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Associate Professor nia love sets work on School of Dance students for An Evening of Dance. (College of Fine Arts)\t\t<\/p>\n\t\tAssociate Professor nia love sets work on School of Dance students for An Evening of Dance. (College of Fine Arts)\t\t<\/p>\n
Florida State University School of Dance<\/a> associate professor nia love has received a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship in Choreography for her work \u201cFloating Metal:\u00a0UNDERcurrents\u00a0in\u00a0My Father\u2019s Garden.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cReceiving a Guggenheim Fellowship is a significant national recognition and a meaningful acknowledgment of the impact of\u00a0nia\u00a0love\u2019s creative work,\u201d said James Frazier,\u00a0dean of the College of Fine Arts. \u201cThis award is among the most prestigious honors that an artist may receive during their career. Her\u00a0selection\u00a0reflects both her individual excellence and the strength of the arts at Florida State University.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n love\u2019s\u00a0ties to FSU and the College of Fine Arts<\/a> run deep.\u00a0Since receiving her Master of Fine Arts degree from FSU in 1992, she has built a career as a\u00a0highly regarded\u00a0artist and choreographer\u00a0in New York City. She has been recognized with\u00a0three\u00a0Bessie\u00a0Awards, a Fullbright Fellowship\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a0Herb Alpert Award, among many other honors. In 2024, she returned to FSU as a faculty member, following in the footsteps of her father, Ed Love, a renowned sculptor\u00a0and\u00a01987 Guggenheim Fellow,\u00a0who\u00a0served\u00a0as an\u00a0FSU Visual Arts professor\u00a0from\u00a01990 until his\u00a0passing in\u00a01999.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For the artist,\u00a0dance has long been a way to\u00a0maintain\u00a0a connection with her\u00a0father, and this\u00a0relationship\u00a0stands at the center of her work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDance has been a way to breathe in unbreathable spaces, a way to be held by people who are no longer here, whispering states of unconditional love,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0\u201cI remember when I was\u00a05, my favorite place to\u00a0improvise\u00a0my dancing moves was down the grocery store aisles. It was there, under my father\u2019s gaze that he\u00a0first told me\u00a0to\u00a0\u2018do the dance.\u2019\u00a0Now here without him\u00a027\u00a0years later, I continue to\u00a0\u2018do the dance.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFloating Metal:\u00a0UNDERcurrents\u00a0in\u00a0My Father\u2019s Garden\u201d\u00a0is\u00a0an expansive\u00a0project that\u00a0is\u00a0personal for the\u00a0artist\u00a0and\u00a0explores\u00a0her connection\u00a0to her\u00a0father through\u00a0their\u00a0art, examining\u00a0inheritance and memory\u00a0and\u00a0reflecting on the\u00a0still-lingering\u00a0impacts\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0trans-Atlantic\u00a0slave trade and the Middle Passage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Part of this\u00a0Guggenheim-winning\u00a0work\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0a\u00a0large-scale exhibition,\u00a0scheduled to open in August\u00a0at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts. It will encompass three galleries and feature a dialogue between love\u2019s performance work and her father\u2019s sculptures,\u00a0paintings\u00a0and photographs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n love was selected\u00a0as part of the 101st\u00a0class of Guggenheim\u00a0Fellows\u00a0from among more than 5,000 applicants. She joins\u00a0223\u00a0artists,\u00a0scholars\u00a0and scientists,\u00a0representing\u00a055 distinct fields. She is the third current FSU School of Dance faculty member to achieve this honor, joining colleagues\u00a0Jawole\u00a0Willa Jo Zollar (2009 Fellow) and Gwen Welliver (2025 Fellow).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For more information about the FSU School of Dance, visit\u00a0dance.fsu.edu<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/nialove.jpg\")
nia love, an associate professor in Florida State University\u2019s School of Dance, has received a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship in choreography for her work \u201cFloating Metal: UNDERcurrents in My Father\u2019s Garden.\u201d (College of Fine Arts)<\/p>\n