The Native Artist Exchange, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), provides support for Native artists residing in any of the 50 United States to travel to different regions of the country so that they may exchange artistic knowledge and skills. This fund is designed to encourage and assist American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian artists, and provides an opportunity for Native artists to teach, learn, and collaborate in traditional and/or contemporary Native art forms through travel from one region to another across the nation.
Background
The Ford Foundation’s IllumiNation program has awarded NEFA additional funding to help address the needs of Native artists nationally. With this funding, NEFA is building its internal capacity to serve Native artists by hiring additional staff, and establishing a national re-granting initiative in service to Native artists to complement its Native arts work in New England.
NEFA is part of a national IllumiNation cohort of seven organizations brought together by the Ford Foundation to strengthen and expand the national philanthropic network supporting Native arts and culture. This distinguished group includes the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; First Peoples Fund; Seventh Generation Fund; American Composers Forum; Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art; and the Evergreen State College Foundation Longhouse Education and Cultural Center.
Funders
Native Arts @ NEFA, in partnership with the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, is made possible with lead funding from the Ford Foundation's "Indigenous Knowledge and Expressive Culture" program.
