Gala
Join us in "Keeping the Creative Spirit Alive". Our national gala fundraiser will be held Thursday, May 17th in Portland, OR at the Left Bank Annex.
ABOUT THE LEFT BANK ANNEX: Visit www.leftbankannex.com
ABOUT THE GALA: We are busy developing an evening to inspire, invigorate and entertain you. For starters, you will have an opportunity to mingle and share libations with like-minded patrons and champions of Native Arts and Cultures. You will meet and interact with NACF grantees and sponsors. As the sun sets, you will be treated to an original ethnic dinner of Hawaiian, Alaskan and Native American cuisine. Our evening program will feature performances and a visual arts auction from prominent Native artists. Check back frequently for updates and details of what and who. For our out of area attendees, we will have suggestions for an extended week-end visit in Portland/SW Wasington. Be sure to check back in February so you can plan your visit and support the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.
ABOUT NACF:
Through its funding initiatives, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) offers support for Native artists, organizations and communities across the 48 states, Alaska and Hawaii. Through grant making, NACF works to increase the capacity of Native cultural practices by investing in Native artists and Native communities whose work focuses on cultural stewardship and creative innovation. NACF is the first permanent fund exclusively dedicated to the revitalization, appreciation and perpetuation of Native arts and cultures in all sectors of society through philanthropy and partnership. The art of Native Peoples has the power to bring communities together to share and express values we individually and collectively hold dear. In challenging times, art invites us to look outside ourselves, to find a moment of hope, to celebrate our lives today and to leave a legacy for future generations. In times of need, art speaks to our soul, our spirit and our compassion.
In 2010, we awarded 26 grants. Here are the stories of six our 2010 grantees.
Diné be’ iiná, Inc. (The Navajo Lifeway), NACF 2010 “Mobilizing the Community Through the Arts” Grantee $15,840
Diné be' iina, Inc. (The Navajo Lifeway), located in Window Rock, Arizona, works in support of Diné producers and weavers, assisting sheep, goat, and fiber producers in the Navajo Nation with technical and educational information to help them regain their economic self-sufficiency. A grant from NACF made it possible to support “Navajo Lifeways and the Arts: What Plants Can Teach Us,” a cultural preservation project that incorporates media arts and cultural technology with fiber and shepherding arts.
“I say bravo to NACF and I applaud them and bow to them because they are responsible for keeping these traditions, keeping these ancestral ways alive,” notes TahNibaa Naataanii (Navajo). “We live in a time that is very challenging for Native people across the globe. We all, Native people, indigenous people, have experienced trauma. However, from our culture, from our songs, our drumbeat, we’re still strong. With an organization like NACF, they become a responsible party that helps continue these ways, this work. To read more, click here.
CHRISTEN MARQUEZ, NACF 2010 “Artistic Innovation, Through the Soul of an Artist” Grantee $20,000
Christen Marquez (Native Hawaiian) is a young filmmaker on the cusp of completing a full length feature auto-biographical documentary, ‘Haku Inoa – To Weave a Name,’ a film that follows her from the mainland to Hawai’i in search of her mother and the meaning of her Hawaiian name. A grant from NACF made it possible for Christen to complete final shooting for her film on the mainland. The primary objective from Christen’s proposal to reach 8,000 Native Hawaiian viewers has been achieved by securing a local Hawai'i broadcast slot for the project. The broadcast will take place in late 2012 or early 2013. To read more, click here.
JOHN FEODOROV, NACF 2010 Artistic Innovation, Through the Soul of an Artist Grantee $7,370
A grant from NACF made it possible for John Feodorov (Navajo) to produce a solo show installed at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, NM from Jan to Mar 2011. With the grant, he was able to purchase essential software to edit videos and to explore other creative digital media, produce the show and also attend the opening and participate in a discussion session at the museum that was open to the public. “I believe that this solo show represent a pivotal stage in my career as an artist. The work in the exhibition is a culmination of my concerns over our alienation from nature and our growing disconnection (physical, spiritual, emotional, cultural) with Place and Land. The works included in the show, while potentially read as dystopian, are meant more as warnings – not unlike most mythologies found worldwide. It also allowed me to further explore issues of identity – something that has become more and more important to my work.” To read more, click here.
MAINE INDIAN BASKETMAKERS ALLIANCE, NACF 2010 “Mobilizing the Community Through the Arts” Grantee $20,000
The Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA) is the premier basketmaking organization on the east coast, functioning as a collective and fostering the preservation of traditional basketmaking practices. A grant from NACF made it possible for the MIBA to support a cultural preservation project anchored by workshops on five Wabanaki reservations, led by master weavers who will work with youth in the creation of baskets – from the gathering of materials to the weaving of baskets. The workshops will foster intergenerational activity and cultivate the preservation of traditional heritage survival practices rooted in the land. “With the event that was funded through NACF and others, what we do is we go from community to community around the state [Maine],” says Jeremy (above). “There are four main tribes that we visit and in each place we go to a community building and we invite everyone in the community that wants to come to show up and weave.” To read more, click here.
POTLATCH FUND, NACF 2010 Strengthen the Arts and Cultures Infrastructure grantee, $10,000.
Potlatch Fund is a grant-making foundation and leadership development organization serving Native communities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The foundation focuses on expanding philanthropy to Native communities by working with Tribal leadership, community leaders, nonprofits and Native artists. Potlatch Fund supports Native peoples in the arts, self-determination, governance, strategic planning, and media, non-profit and small business management. Through its grant-making, Potlatch Fund assists artists in professional development, collaboration, sustainable business practices, marketing and audience development, and the production of new work. To learn more, click here.
For more information on the work of The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, visit www.nacf.us
