NACF’s New Mentor Fellowship Program – Apply Now!

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NACF’s new Mentor Fellowship program will award accomplished American Indian and Alaska Native artists to mentor emerging artist apprentices in the Traditional Arts or Contemporary Visual Arts categories. The program’s goal is to improve creative development, artistic rigor, and intergenerational cultural and traditional knowledge perpetuation by fostering the growth of Native artist mentors and apprentices, and empowering them to play an integral role in their communities. Applications will be accepted from October 6 through November 22, 2016, at 5:00 pm Pacific Time. To apply go to your.culturegrants.org.

Through NACF’s mission to promote the revitalization, appreciation, and perpetuation of Native arts and cultures, we have developed an understanding of the key challenges facing Native artists and culture bearers. We know that in Native and tribal communities nationwide the arts, cultural expression, languages, and lifeways continue to be threatened by legacies of systemic cultural suppression, poor socio-economic conditions, and historic generational trauma.

The Mentor Fellowship has in many ways been designed to address the above challenges by providing structured opportunities for the transference of knowledge, as well as supporting artistic rigor to enable and facilitate cultural perpetuation and creative development.

The program seeks to establish continuity of creative expression through the sharing and exchange of traditional and culturally relevant practices in the traditional and contemporary visual arts. We strongly believe that continuity and knowledge transfer will have a positive impact in both supporting artistic practice that is forging new terrain in contemporary visual arts, and revitalizing traditional cultural knowledge and practices in Native communities.

The Mentor Fellowship will award $30,000 for established American Indian and Alaska Native artists to mentor emerging artist apprentices in the Traditional Arts or Contemporary Visual Arts categories. An applicant must be a five-year resident and enrolled Native citizen of a tribe located in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Apply now at your.culturegrants.org. Applications are due by November 22, 2016, at 5:00 pm Pacific Time.