The Yéigo Action Grant provides support for the growing landscape of Native artists and culture bearers who need financial assistance with a specific professional development opportunity or towards a hardship that is hindering their creative practice.
This program offers grants between $100 and $2,500 for individual Native artists and culture bearers. First Peoples Fund (FPF) finds it essential to support artists in their times of need, especially when their work is impacted by sudden hardship. This grant’s name incorporates the Diné word yéigo, often used as a phrase of encouragement that can mean “keep going” or “don’t give up.”
While some requests related to a current artistic project may be eligible, please note that Yéigo Action Grants are not intended to assist with funding new artist projects or to provide general support for an existing project.
Funds May Be Used For:
- Assistance with signing up for an art opportunity (market entry fees, workshop fees, etc.)
- Support an artist attending a residency, seminar, or any other professional development opportunity (travel, lodging, meals, etc).
- Emergency disaster relief (fire, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc).
- Repair of damaged equipment or tools.
- Unanticipated transportation needs for artistic work or professional development travel (vehicle repair, car rental, bus pass, ridesharing – e.g. Uber/Lyft, etc.)
- Unanticipated medical expenses that impact an artist’s ability to work and create.
- Sudden, unexpected expenses for a current project (such as replacing damaged supplies, finding a new venue, etc.).
Ineligible Funding Requests:
- Reimbursement for funds already spent by the applicant.
- General requests for funds to purchase new tools, equipment, supplies, or materials.
- General operating support for organizations and nonprofits.
- Tuition and/or class supplies related to a degree program at a college or university.
- Credit payments or student loans.
- Must be at least 18 years of age at the time of application.
- Applicants must be enrolled members of, or provide proof of lineal descendancy from, a U.S. federally recognized or U.S. state-recognized tribe or be able to provide proof of ancestry as an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian.
- Applicant must be a practicing artist.
- Must not have previously received a Yéigo Action Grant.
- PRO TIP #1: Your request should be for a specific upcoming professional opportunity, unanticipated expense, or action being taken in response to an emergency need.
- PRO TIP #2: Reviewers should be able to easily understand how and what an applicant will be using the requested funds for.
- PRO TIP #3: It should be clear how your request is tied to your art making.
- We use Submittable to accept and review applications. If you do not already have a Submittable account, you may be required to create one to submit your application.
- All questions marked with an asterisk require a response.
- Please use your legal first and last name when filling out the application.
- You will be asked to upload proof of your tribal affiliation.
- When selecting the art medium(s) you work in, please only choose up to three of your primary mediums. This will help us better understand where you spend most of your time when creating artwork.
- You may share your artist website, social media page, or another link to help us verify that you are a practicing artist. Doing so is optional and will not affect how your application is scored. We recognize that not everyone maintains an online presence.
- You will be asked to upload three recent examples of your artwork and enter a brief description of each. These are used to help verify that you are a practicing artist.
- Funding requests should be for a minimum of $100 up to a maximum of $2,500.
- You may include a website link that you would like to share with the review panel in support of your request. This is entirely optional; leaving this section blank will not negatively affect your score. some text
- Examples: A link to a site for an event, workshop, class, or conference you hope to attend; a link to a news article about an event or natural disaster that has affected you.
- You may upload up to two documents you would like to share with the review panel in support of your request. This is entirely optional; leaving this section blank will not negatively affect your score. some text
- Examples: an invoice for an event, workshop, class, or conference that you want to attend; a price quote for repairs, materials, or travel costs; a budget document you have created if your request is more complex.
- We ask that you please do not upload any documents with private personal information, such as medical records.
First Peoples Fund Staff and Leadership review applications monthly. Grants will be awarded based on available funds. Full or partial funding may be awarded.
Applications will be scored based on the following criteria:
- The amount of funding requested is in line with intended use.
- Any supporting document or website link is relevant to the request if included with the application. (Note: supporting documentation is optional.)
- Applicant expresses a clear need for funding and the proposed grant request will help them meaningfully.
- The applicant is able to describe how their grant request will positively impact their art practice and/or business in the short and long term.
Applications are reviewed and grants are awarded monthly based on available funds.
- The deadline to apply is on the 10th of every month.
- Applicants will be notified of their status by the last day of the month.
- FPF will follow up within six months of grant funding to collect a brief testimonial from awardees about how the grant impacted them.
Approved grant requests should expect to receive funds around 6-8 weeks after the monthly application due date, subject to completion of required paperwork.
Grant Timeline Example:
- Bobby applies by a March 10th deadline, seeking funding to attend and sell their work at an art market in June.
- They were notified on March 31st that their funding request had been approved.
- Over the next two weeks, they will receive and complete the required paperwork. On April 21st, their grant funds will be direct-deposited into their bank account.
- After they had attended the art market in July, Bobby was contacted by an FPF Program Manager. They scheduled a phone conversation about Bobby’s grant experience the following week, on July 29th.
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about the Yéigo Action Grant please contact us at programs@firstpeoplesfund.org
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