Artist Resources

First Peoples Fund is a Native-led non-profit that provides direct funding, resources, and professional development to Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native artists, culture bearers, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). First Peoples Fund supports Native history, ancestral knowledge, and storytelling through art and culture.

Fellowships “Artists in Business Leadership” and “Cultural Capital”

Fellowships partner with Native artists and culture bearers to strengthen their business skills and ensure that art, culture, and ancestral knowledge are shared from one generation to the next. Fellows receive a $7500-$10,000 project grant, technical support, and professional training to start or grow an arts business and continue their essential work in their communities. The 12-month fellowship programs select 25 fellows per year.

Community Spirit Award (The Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards) celebrate outstanding Native artists and culture bearers who embody their People’s cultural assets and way of life. Honorees are selected based on their artistic practice, commitment to building the strength of Native communities, and direct ties to their tribal community. Each honoree will receive a $25,000 grant to continue their important work.

Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships support Minnesota and New York City-based artists across 8 artistic fields who generate new work that takes creative risks in expanding, questioning, experimenting with or re-imagining conventional artistic forms. This Fellowship supports artists who embrace their roles as part of a larger community of artists and citizens, and consciously work with a sense of service, whether aesthetic, social or both. Support is directed to artists who are at an early point in their careers in creating such work, generally in their 2nd–10th year as a generative artist.

Fellows receive $50,000 over two consecutive years ($25,000 each year) to support their time and expenses for the creation of new work, artistic development and/or professional artistic career development.

The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) advances equity and cultural knowledge, focusing on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen Native communities and promote positive social change with American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples in the United States.

NACF has two programs, the LIFT – Early Career Support for Native Artists and the SHIFT – Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts.

The LIFT–Early Career Support for Native Artists program, is a one-year award for emerging Native artists to develop and realize new projects. The program’s focus is to provide financial support and professional development to artists whose work aims to uplift communities and advance positive social change.

The SHIFT – Transformative Change and Indigenous Art program, supports artist and community-driven projects responding to social change issues through a Native lens. One of the main goals of SHIFT is to draw increased attention to Native communities, perspectives, and challenges, shifting a national narrative of invisibility, misunderstanding, and misappropriation, supporting or focusing on efforts that are built upon community cultural assets, resilience, and strengths.

Springboard for the Arts’ mission is to support artists with the tools to make a living and a life, and to build just and equitable communities full of meaning, joy, and connection. Founded as an independent nonprofit in 1991, Springboard for the Arts has an innovative 30-year history of supporting artists making a living and a life and artist-led community development work.

Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists

In July 2017, Ucross announced a new initiative to support the work of contemporary Native American visual artists at all stages in their professional careers. The Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists is open to disciplines that include but are not limited to painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, video, performance art, installation, ceramics, and collaborative projects involving multiple disciplines.

Two Ucross Fellowships for Native American Visual Artists are awarded each year. Those selected for the fellowship are offered a four-week residency, a stipend of $2,000, and a featured gallery exhibition at Ucross the following year. For Fellowships in Spring and Fall in 2024, the deadline is September 1, 2023. There will be no application fee to apply. While only one Fellowship winner will be selected for each session, all applicants will have the option of being considered for a regular Ucross residency.

​Funding for the first two years of the fellowship (2018-2019) was provided in large part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. In 2020, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) granted Ucross funds to continue the program for visual artists and expand its reach to include Native American writers.

Fellowship for Native American Writers

In 2020, following the success of its Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists, Ucross launched a similar opportunity for Native American writers at all stages in their professional careers. The Ucross Fellowship for Native American Writers is open to practicing writers who are currently producing work in one or more of the following genres — fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting, playwriting, or hybrid forms.

Two Ucross Fellowships for Native American Writers will awarded each year. Those selected for the fellowship are offered a four-week residency, a stipend of $2,000, and an opportunity to present work publicly.