DEADLINE

May 15, 2025 – 5:00 PM (PT)

Notifications will be sent in September 2025.

NACF is now accepting applications for the SHIFT: Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts program. SHIFT provides two-year awards for Native artists, curators, and collectives to develop innovative, community-driven projects in partnership with organizations. The program’s focus is to support work that uplifts Native communities, promotes self-determination, and drives transformative social change.

Eligible applicants must be Native artists, collectives, or curators with experience in community-focused work. Projects should build upon community cultural assets, resilience, and strengths, addressing issues such as cultural sovereignty, intergenerational knowledge-sharing, healing and well-being, environmental justice, and systemic power structures. Applicants must partner with an organization to develop and present their project.

SHIFT awards include $100,000 in multi-year funding along with professional development, project evaluation, documentation, and marketing support. Up to five awardees will be selected. Visit the SHIFT PROGRAM PAGE for a full description of the program, eligibility requirements, and to apply.

DEADLINE

April 8, 2025 – 5:00 PM (PT)

Notifications will be sent in July 2025.

NACF is now accepting applications for the LIFT: Early Career Support for Native Artists program.
LIFT provides one-year awards for early-career Native artists to develop and realize new projects. The program invests in emerging Native artists to cultivate fresh voices, foster communal meaning-making, and envision the future of Native practices.

Eligible applicants must be individual Native artists working in dance/choreography, fiction/poetry writing, film/video, multi-disciplinary arts, music, performance art, theater and screenplay writing, traditional arts, or 2D + 3D visual arts. Artists must be enrolled members or citizens of federally recognized or state-recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native corporations, or of Native Hawaiian ancestry. We encourage artists shaping their practices, for whom the award may serve as a launching point in their career, to apply.

LIFT includes $15,000 awards along with professional development, mentorship, project evaluation, and marketing support. Visit the LIFT PROGRAM PAGE for a full description of the award, eligibility requirements, and application details.

We envision the building of philanthropy to support Native arts and cultures. To that end, we offer this gathering of resources for Native artists and/or arts & cultural organizations as a springboard to identify career, program and project support. Subscribe to our newsletter for ongoing opportunities.