Grant Programs for American Indian/Alaska Native artists, Tribes, and mainstream colleges and universities

The Longhouse Education and Cultural Center recognizes the importance of supporting the arts at the source—by supporting artists themselves.

2022 *Native Creative Development Grant

We support individual Tribal citizen** artists who are working to further shape their visual arts and creative expression practice. We have a broad view of how Tribal citizen artists of all levels of practice - from emerging to advanced – are on pathways at various points of their creative practice with a distinctive artistic vision to express through art, one's cultural identity and connection to respective Tribal communities. The Longhouse supports projects with a variety of visual, performance, and literary arts.

*Native is defined as: American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian. Documentation of tribal affiliation is required.

**Tribal Citizen is determined by each Tribe and includes those who can provide documentation of citizenship from the Tribe they identify on the application form. It includes the designation of descendant if the Tribe recognizes this as an official status.

Project Fund Amount

  • Awards of up to $5,000 for individuals
  • Awards for Master/ Apprentice partnerships are up to $6,000 (Master artist and Apprentice collaborations must be able to meet regularly in person for face-to-face artistic development.)

Timeline

  • Application Opens: Wednesday, September 14, 2022
  • Application Closes: Friday, October 28, 2022
  • Award Notification: Friday, December 15, 2022
  • Project Duration: 9 months to 1 year.
  • Note: Prior year grant partners are to have completed their reports before reapplying.

Grant Guidelines

Funding supports traditional, contemporary, and experimental art forms. The Individual Artist grant is intended solely for Native artists living and representing Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

Note: Prior year grant award partners are to have completed their final reports before reapplying.

Individual Artist Project Criteria

Each applicant will provide a clear description of objectives, activities, and any community engagement plans.  Share why your creative expression is connected to your Native cultural identity, values, and community.  Share how you plan to move forward in practice and share:

  • Advances your artist's development, art form, and creative practice.
  • Contribute to the field of Native art and self-identify as an integral member of the artistic and cultural community. Your creative practice a benefit the wider community by promoting art, identity, and culture.
  • Share out your unique aesthetic and body of work that celebrates ancestral and/ or contemporary beliefs that can be shared with peers or community. It may be a project that supports your community.
  • You may offer teaching and learning opportunities via workshops, classes, and mentorship with practicing artists. If you are preparing for an event or gathering, you may build on your art where it will be utilized or displayed.
  • Sustainability- show through your narrative and budget that breakdowns each of your expenses and includes income from personal contributions and in-kind contributions collected.

How to Apply

There are two ways to apply:

  1. Complete the online application (Google Forms)

Note: You will have an opportunity to upload all materials

  1. Download and complete the Paper Application

Note: Detailed Instructions are provided in the paper application on how to submit attachments.  

Required Application Attachments

You will be asked to upload the following documents as a part of the application:

• Artist Résumé
• Documentation of Tribal Affiliation
• Project Budget. A sample budget is provided [Here]
• Work Sample List

Supplemental Uploads

Up to six work samples (label and title each provided)
Letter of support (only required if your project involves work in a Native community, or requires the participation of community members or other individuals, your application must include a letter of support from the individuals involved).

Have questions or need assistance? Please contact the Longhouse staff at (360) 692-9487 and email Mary.Kummer@evergreen.edu.

Tips for a competitive grant application.

SIAM, Supporting Indigenous Arts Mastery Program

SIAM Grants for Colleges and Universities: 

The SIAM* program, Supporting Indigenous Arts Mastery, is designed to help community colleges, 4-year colleges and universities (both public and private) achieve some of its goals to support cultural arts of Tribal communities within the institution's own service region. Modeled after the work of the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at The Evergreen State College, SIAM is designed to support the outward facing public service work colleges and universities may already be doing, or wish to do with Tribal communities to support cultural visual arts.

Every partnership is unique. While institutions do not need to have a comprehensive public service plan already in place, it should have a team of dedicated staff of professionals and leaders and Tribal partners committed to the successful support of proposed projects focusing on cultural arts as defined by a Tribe or Tribes. The institution and the Tribe(s) should have the capacity to deliver the programming described in your letter as well as provide evaluation and institutional documentation of expenditures.

Cultural arts can be multi-disciplinary or focused on a particular type of art deemed to be important for the Tribe(s) by the Tribe(s) and taught by master artists who can bring other Tribal artists into the circle of artistic mastery as explorers, learners and apprentices. The intention is to create artistic paths to ensure sustainability of the artform(s).

Available grants are up to $30,000 per institution, per year, which is renewable for longer projects. Project budgets should focus on contracts with master artists, supplies and materials, as well as support for learners/apprentices. It may include rental, support for meals during workshops, mileage, lodging as well as some salary support and goods and services for the institution team managing the project. Projects can be matched with other funding sources from institutional, state, and national resources.

Project proposals can be for up to two years with a maximum funding of $30,000 in each year (dispersed Summer 2022 and Summer 2023).

Successful institutions will demonstrate a philosophy of service, respect, and consultation with Tribes that elevates autonomy, agency, and expertise of Tribes in their work to support and advance artistic mastery in their communities.

*SIAM is a Salish term for a learned elder and simultaneously a term of respect for learned ancestors.

For more information and instructions on how to apply email or call:
Mary Kummer, Program Specialist, Mary.Dailey_Kummer@evergreen.edu (360) 867-6413

Northwest Heritage Program

Northwest Heritage Program for cultural preservation and creative expression:

The Northwest Heritage Program focuses on working in partnership with tribal and cultural communities to develop culturally-based art workshops.

The Northwest Heritage Program partners with Tribal cultural and heritage departments, organizations, and artists who would like to have resources to support the teaching and learning of cultural arts, with an emphasis on customary arts, and a focus on intergenerational sharing of artistic knowledge.

We have supported the teaching and learning of cultural arts in the Pacific Northwest focused on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana Tribal communities.

The Northwest Heritage art workshops can be in any art form that is important to the community. Previous art workshops have included: sturgeon nose and shovel nose canoe building, corn husk basket weaving, moccasin making, plateau dress making, Klickitat basket making, clam digging, and Blackfeet traditional willow back rest.

Examples of Tribal partnerships include: Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis, Confederated Tribes of the Colville, Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Burns Paiute Tribe, and Blackfeet Nation.

Examples of institutions we have partnered with include: Yakama Nation Museum, Yakima Valley Museum, Northwest Museum of Art and Culture, Washington State History Museum, Museum at Warm Springs, Oregon College of Art and Crafts, Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum, and the Museum of the Plains Indian.

We are honored to continue the work of strengthening cultural artistic traditions through the transfer of intergenerational knowledge in cultural arts for future generations.

Available grants are up to $6,000 per workshop, per year.

Projects should focus on contracts with master artists, supplies and materials. It may include space rental, and support for meals during the workshop.

Projects may be held over a period of several weeks and may include multiple sessions over several seasons to accommodate appropriate gathering and preparation of materials.

Projects can be matched with other funding sources from institutional, state, and national resources.

Materials required for letter of interest

  • Letter of interest specifically addressing:
    • Project description
    • Measurable objectives and the activities proposed to meet those objectives.
  • If Tribes have identified master artists for the project, include:
    • Artist(s) name
    • Images of work samples
    • Tribal affiliation
    • Importance to the art form
  • Proposed Budget with general line items of expected expenditures.

Expectations:

Awarded projects will be expected to submit a W9 outlining who receives the funding.

Participant evaluations for the activities during the workshop will need to be submitted. Evaluations from the master artist(s) documenting having met the goals and objectives of the workshop is also required. Photos and documentation of activities is encouraged.

Successful workshops will demonstrate a deeper learning of cultural arts, offering an immersive experience to learn the work within cultural contexts offered by the master artist.

Letters of interest and can be e-mailed to:

Questions can be directed via e-mail or phone (360) 867-6413.

Download a .pdf of the Northwest Heritage call for letter of interest.

Past Grant Recipients

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