While I don't know much about her, this was not expected.... the magazine generally doesn't talk about music much, and when it does it generally ties somehow to the Smithsonian Folkways label or to some other historic/cultural aspect of stuff. Contemporary music references are pretty rare. Even so, given the other award recipients presented in the magazine I would have expected a choice that was both less well known to the public at large and also more adventurous. I dunno though.

Excerpt from article here:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/The-Totally-Original-Sound-of-St-Vincent-231146841.html#StVincent-Ingenuity-intro-473.jpg

i'd consider st. vincent pretty adventurous, as far as being able to combine quirky electronic effects with somewhat challenging songwriting/song structures/musicianship and still making it pretty accessible

i'd assume something like the smithsonian institute would award a modern classical or jazz instrumentalist, but if they're going to choose an 'innovative' pop artist, I think St. Vincent is a great choice

i'm a pretty big fan though