About NAEB
The Native Arts Ecology Building Grant is a powerful tool that enables us to extend our impact beyond individual artists by supporting Native nonprofit organizations, including Native Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFIs) in their efforts to uplift Native artists in their communities. Our cohort-based grant program provides nonprofits with tools to uplift Native artists in their communities, identify opportunities for them to thrive and highlight their value to the wider fabric of Native communities. This grant is available by invitation only.
In 2018 we published a report detailing the results of our work with Native Arts Ecology Building Grant grantees, Investing in the Indigenous Arts Ecology. This report builds off of what we learned from our 2013 market study, Establishing a Creative Economy: Native Arts as an Economic Engine.
What is the Indigenous Arts Ecology?
First Peoples Fund defines Indigenous Arts Ecology as a relationship-based, collective system of arts ecosystems, grounded in ancestral knowledge and inclusive of environments, spirit, people and lifeways.
Indigenous Arts Ecosystems are the local or regional communities of individuals, formal and informal networks, resources, cultural infrastructure, organizations and businesses that interact as a system and provide support to Indigenous artists and culture bearers. These ecosystems are led by artists and culture bearers whose art and lives embody the values, traditions and aspirations of their communities.
These concepts inform our Native Arts Ecology Building Grant, encouraging organizations to reach beyond how artists drive creative economies and emphasizing their value to the wider fabric of Indigenous communities, environments and traditions.