First Nations Development Institute Will Expand Its Native Arts Initiative in 2017

LONGMONT, Colorado (February 2, 2017) – First Nations Development Institute (First Nations), a national Native American nonprofit organization that works to improve Native economies and communities, today announced it has received a $2,736,500 grant for a three-year Native arts project. This award will position First Nations to expand its Native Arts Initiative (formerly known as the “Native Arts Capacity Building Initiative” or NACBI) into 2019.

Launched in early 2014, the purpose of the Native Arts Initiative (NAI) is to support the perpetuation and proliferation of Native American arts, cultures and traditions as integral to Native community life. It does this by providing organizational and programmatic resources to Native-led organizations and tribal government programs that have existing programs in place that support Native artists and traditional arts in their communities.

Since 2014, First Nations has awarded more than $600,000 in grant funds to a variety of eligible Native-led nonprofit organizations and tribal programs in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin to bolster the sustainability of their organizational and programmatic infrastructure as well as the professional development of their staff and leadership. For a list of current and former NAI grantees, please visit the First Nations Native Arts Initiative webpage.

Under the expansion, First Nations will continue to offer competitive funding opportunities to Native-led nonprofit organizations and tribal programs in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. First Nations will begin to offer competitive funding opportunities to Native-led nonprofit organizations and tribal programs in two new regions – the Southwest, including Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California, and the Pacific Northwest, including Washington and Oregon. First Nations expects to release a request for proposals in the coming days and will award approximately 45 Supporting Native Arts Grants of up to $32,000 each over the next three years to eligible Native-led nonprofits and tribal government programs in these regions.

NAI recipient organizations and programs will utilize their grants to strengthen their organizational and programmatic infrastructure and sustainability, which will reinforce their support of the field of Native American artists as culture bearers and traditional arts in their communities. In addition to financial support, the NAI will offer individualized training and technical assistance opportunities for grantees as well as competitive professional development opportunities for staff members of eligible Native-led organizations and tribal programs.

Funding for this project is provided in part by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.