Grantees: 2010 Strengthening the Arts and Cultures Infrastructure

Total Allocation: $80,000.00

Support for Native arts service organizations: Grants in support of operational needs, efforts in capacity building, the development or retention of the workforce, support for infrastructure systems, governance and board development, equipment and/or technical needs, the administration of programs, professional development training or services, improved outreach, and/or support for programming vital to the mission of the organization.

Grantees:
1. Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, AK
2. First Peoples Fund, Rapid City, SD
3. Longhouse Educational and Cultural Center, Olympia, WA
4. New England Foundation for the Arts, Boston, MA
5. Pa’i Foundation, Honolulu, HI
6. Potlatch Fund, Seattle, WA
7. Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, Arcata, CA
8. Southwestern Association for Indian Arts/Santa Fe Indian Market, Santa Fe, NM

Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC)
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Award: $20,000*

A globally renowned cultural facility, ANHC promotes and shares the rich heritage of Alaska’s 11 different cultural groups. Their programming is inclusive of all the Native peoples in Alaska and the center not only features cultural artifacts, physical culture, and a beautifully expansive campus, but is a living facility that offers a diverse array of programs including artist classes, cultural workshops, high school immersion camps, internships, and cultural events all in outreach to the greater community. ANHC boasts strong leadership, a primarily Native board and staff, strong support from the state’s native peoples, and serves as a cultural beacon in terms of the capacity of its administration, scope of its programming, and cultural presence in the community.

*This award was made possible with generous support from the Rasmuson Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska.

First Peoples Fund
Location: Rapid City, SD
Award: $10,000

Since 1999, First Peoples Fund (FPF) has supported nearly 150 artists through one-year Artists in Business Leadership and Cultural Capital fellowship programs and Community Spirit Awards. In addition, since 2008 FPF has served almost 200 more artists through comprehensive professional development training for native artist entrepreneurs. These workshops not only provide immediate assistance to participating artists, but increase the applicant pool for FPF’s fellowship programs, enabling deeper long-term business and community development impacts at the tribal level. Today, First Peoples Fund is the only native controlled, national organization whose sole purpose is to cultivate and strengthen First Peoples’ artist leadership, develop successful entrepreneurs and sustain arts and culture at the community level.

Longhouse Educational and Cultural Center
Location: Olympia, WA
Award: $10,000

As one of five public service centers at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, the “House of Welcome” mission is to promote indigenous arts and cultures. Originally focused exclusively on Pacific Northwest tribal artists, the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center now works on a national and international level with indigenous artists from the Pacific Rim. They maintain a Native artist marketing service, art sales, art exhibitions, artist gatherings, artist-in-residence workshops as well as a grants program for individual artists and for communities to bring master artists to teach. 

New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), Native Arts Program
Location: Boston, MA
Award: $10,000

The Native Arts program at NEFA supports Native artists in New England and nationally through grantmaking and network development. The program builds regional and national support structures to help Native artists reach broader audiences, connect with new markets for their work, and gain access to financial resources. Native Arts was developed in partnership with the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, with lead funding and vision from the Ford Foundation’s Indigenous Knowledge and Expressive Culture program. With a strong Native staff, Native Arts Program grants and programs support artistic traditions within Native communities, as well as encourage exchange among Native elders, professional artists, emerging artists, and community resources to promote both the preservation of traditional art forms and contemporary expressions in and across artistic disciplines.

Pa’i Foundation
Location: Honolulu, HI
Award: $10,000

PA‘I Foundation’s mission is to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian cultural traditions for future generations. The goal of PA‘I Foundation is to establish a cultural center on O’ahu to better serve the broader Hawaiian community. The foundation is among a group who are the driving force behind movements to recover language, cultural traditions, healing practices, voyaging, navigations and agricultural practices of a people that are now the minority population in their ancestral land.  Since 2006, the PA‘I Foundation and the Bishop Museum have been engaged in a successful partnership that allowed the two organizations to secure funding to launch the Native Hawaiian Arts Market.  Modeled on the Santa Fe Indian Market, this event serves as a way to celebrate Native Hawaiian contemporary artists.  The Market has established a venue for artists to share, exhibit and sell their work.  This two day celebration has grown into a month long event that incorporates an arts market; gallery showings; children’s arts events; a wearable art show; and an awards reception, all taking place throughout downtown Honolulu.

Potlatch Fund
Location: Seattle, WA
Award: $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. 

Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development
Location: Arcata, CA
Award: $10,000

The Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development is an Indigenous Peoples’ organization founded in 1977 to mobilize resources, develop the capacity of, and strengthen the strategies for the sovereignty of Native communities. The foundation offers an integrated program of advocacy, small grants, training and technical assistance, media experience, leadership development and fiscal management, lending support and extensive expertise to Indigenous grassroots communities. Through its grant-making, the Seventh Generation Fund provides support to Native communities and cultural arts organizations encouraging holistic community health and cultural renewal efforts by supporting traditional and contemporary arts practices in the expression of cultural identity.

Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, Santa Fe Indian Market
Location: Santa Fe, NM
Award: $10,000

The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is an 89 year old Native arts and culture advocacy organization best known for its planning and staging of the annual Santa Fe Indian Market. Indian Market is an exceptional event because of its inclusiveness, size, and variety of art forms; its centrality as the annual convening of the native arts and culture community; and its incomparable education foundation and opportunities. Indian Market also provides unprecedented opportunities for art sales, as a venue and in the encouragement for new and innovative work, and bringing together a critical mass of art experts and appreciators.