Aloha Friends,
As someone who understands the value of arts and cultures you know that they provide a seed with the potential to transform communities and embrace cultural differences. We are deeply grateful for your friendship and support over the years.
As Native peoples we are mobilized to tell our stories, to convey our courage and resilience. We have a wealth of accurate history, knowledge, and values to share with you. Yet, we can’t do this work by ourselves. We need your help.
You and I recognize that arts and cultures are fundamental to who we are. They are an underlying force that impacts our lives and engages citizens in the rewarding work of building a better democracy. However, less than one-tenth of one percent of all US charitable giving for arts, culture, and heritage goes to Native arts and cultures.
We invite you to support our ambitious nationwide movement to support Native artists and communities by making a generous donation today.
Culture enlightens, culture inspires, and culture empowers. Nowhere is that truer than in the artistic expression of our Native artists and communities, whose work brings a different perspective and has broad relevance in these contemporary times. Your help will enable Native artists to flourish, which is crucial to the wellbeing of the cultural landscape we cherish.
Through generous donations, we have had the honor of supporting over 200 Native artists and organizations in more than 30 states. This includes carvers, mixed-media artists, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, poets, weavers, painters, authors, composers, printmakers, fiber artists and more. We support diverse communities of Tribal Nations and Native organizations in both rural and urban areas.
Your much-needed contribution will allow us to support an emerging artist to gain training, or enable an artist to exhibit their work in a new venue. Your investment now will help expand a perfoming artist’s career, or help a poet get published. At the same time, you will greatly increase our country’s cultural wealth in the process. Thank you – we appreciate your help. Your gift will be put to immediate good use.
Wishing you a peaceful and joyful holiday season,
T.Lulani Arquette (Native Hawaiian), President & CEO
Keep reading below to learn more about the artists your donation will support!
For the past two years NACF has supported artists like Dyani White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota) and her apprentice Jennie Kappenman (Red Lake Ojibwe). White Hawk, is an award-winning artist who taught her apprentice the intricate skill of quillwork stitching. She was selected for our first Mentor Artist Fellowship cohort in 2017. The Mentor Artist Fellowship aims to create a structured opportunity for the transfer of cultural knowledge. It provides resources for mentors to teach a new generation of artists in traditional and contemporary visual art practices.
Having the ability to take on an apprentice has done a great deal for my own confidence. By taking on the role of teacher, you must own your own abilities.
― Dyani White Hawk, 2017 NACF Mentor Artist Fellow
Supporting both established and emerging Native artists is made possible with your generosity. Your investment in the work we do generates opportunities for artists to maintain the traditions of Native art forms, while having the resources to strengthen their own artistic voice as contemporary Native artists.
Upholding Our Values through Native Arts and Cultures
Visual Artist RYAN! Feddersen (Okanogan and Arrow Lakes)
2018 National Artist Fellow
RYAN! Feddersen led a community-enacted temporary mural – 900* Horses (left) – as a memorial in remembrance of the herd of horses belonging to three Pacific Northwest tribes slaughtered in 1858 under orders of U.S. Army Col. George Wright. The project brought the community together to create a new narrative and acknowledge the scale of the loss to Native tribes.
Fiber Artist Marques Hanalei Marzan (Native Hawaiian)
2018 National Artist Fellow
Marques Hanalei Marzan has dedicated his career to recovering and reviving the art of kōkō pu‘upu‘u, or rope and cordage vessels. Marzan bridges the traditions of the past with the innovations of the present, creating a dialogue within his work that speaks to the evolutionary continuity of culture.
Photographer Brian Adams (Iñupiaq)
2018 National Artist Fellow
Brian Adams uses his photojournalistic art to present the authenticity of people and places. His work explores the intimacies of daily life in remote coastal Alaska amidst the threat of rising sea levels, and his upcoming project will take him to other countries documenting the beauty and complexity of Indigenous life for circumpolar peoples.
Multimedia Artist Courtney Leonard (Shinnecock)
2018 National Artist Fellow
Courtney Leonard’s work with the Offshore Art movement creates an environmental record that addresses the cultural viability of coastal indigenous communities. Leonard’s art work embodies the multiple definitions of “breach”, an exploration and documentation of historical ties to water, whale and material sustainability.
Musician Allison Akootchook Warden (Iñupiaq)
2018 National Artist Fellow
Allison Akootchook Warden is a hip hop artist who engages her audience with stories and themes of the Iñupiaq people, paying homage to tradition while bringing a fresh perspective to contemporary issues. Warden is currently working on composing a new album in Iñupiaq, which she hopes will help promote the preservation of her Native language.