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Lynda Barry’s Infectious Genius

ynda Barry is the most democratic artist I’ve ever met, so I feel sure she’d bristle at being elevated to the status of genius. But now she’s stuck with the title. Last Wednesday, Barry became one of 25 winners of the MacArthur Fellows Program, worth $625,000 and popularly known as the “genius grant.” According to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Barry’s award is for “Inspiring creative engagement through original graphic works and a teaching practice centered on the role of image making in communication.”