The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is now accepting applications for the LIFT–Early Career Support for Native Artists program.
Donor Name: Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/14/2023
Size of the Grant: $10,000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
The LIFT – Early Career Support for Native Artists program will provide critical support to early career Native artists with one-year awards to develop and realize new projects. The program encourages artists to uplift communities, advance positive social change, point courageously toward environmental sustainability, and foster communal meaning making. The program will consist of a suite of activities that includes grant making, artist professional development, evaluation, and communications/marketing support. The primary objectives of this opportunity are to support artists who are developing their voices and for whom the award may serve as a launching point in their career.
Program Services
- Grant making: One-year awards of $10,000.
- Professional development: Artist awardees will participate in trainings facilitated by NACF and its partner organizations that are designed to provide education around project management, small business development, career advancement, and artistic development.
- Culturally Appropriate Evaluation: Support from NACF to develop project deliverables, outcomes and internal/external NACF program reports.
- Communications and marketing support.
Funding Information
LIFT is a monetary award of $10,000 for a proposed project with a required minimum of $3,000 earmarked for the artist’s benefit and wellbeing. Up to 15 artists will be selected to receive awards.
Grant Period
Award period (September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024).
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible for the LIFT program, applicants must:
- Be 18 years or older.
- Currently reside in the United States.
- Be an enrolled member or citizen of a US federally-recognized or state-recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native corporation, or of Native Hawaiian ancestry. Applicants will be asked to provide documentation of their Native citizenship or ancestry in the application form.
- Be an individual practicing artist working in the disciplines of dance/choreography, fiction/poetry writing, film/video, multi-disciplinary arts, music, performance art, theater and screenplay writing, traditional arts or 2D + 3D visual arts.
- Be an emerging artist or early in their artistic career. NACF defines “emerging” as:
- An artist with less than ten years of experience.
- Please note that changing artistic disciplines does not “restart” a career. Career includes any and all artistic practices in aggregation. For example, if an artist has been a musician for 12 years but has only recently started to create film, the artist is not considered emerging because they are working in a different discipline.
- Age is not a determinant – early career may be defined as an artist who is 18-30 years old, or who is more than 30 years old, but who started their arts career later in life.
- Not have received a singular award of $10,000 or more in their artistic career.
- Other ways “emerging” may be defined: an artist who has yet to develop a large body of work or who has limited or no experience with exhibiting or presenting their work to the public.
- An artist with less than ten years of experience.
- NOT BE enrolled in a degree-seeking program at a university or higher-education institution during the 12-month award period (September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024).
- Propose a new project that can be developed and presented within one year of the award, or prior to August 31, 2024.
For more information, visit NACF.
