Northern Great Plains Native American Artists

Local Partner

First Peoples Fund
firstpeoplesfund.org

"Founded in 1995, First Peoples Fund's mission is to honor and support the creative community-centered First Peoples artists; and nurture the collective spirit that allows them to sustain their peoples. Our vision is to communicate to the world the roots and philosophy of Indigenous artistic expression and its relationship to the collective spirit of First Peoples. We will strive to provide support and voice to the creative Indigenous artists who share their inspiration, wisdom, knowledge and gifts with their communities."

Grant Period: February 2007 – January 2011

Grant Focus: Demand & Markets, Direct Support & Validation, Training & Professional Development

***Recipient of a LINC Challenge Grant, funded by The Kresge Foundation.

Creative Communities Project

Artist in Business Leadership (ABL)

The priority of the First Peoples Fund (FPF) is to support Indigenous artists by providing access to the tools and resources necessary to manage small entrepreneurial businesses, achieve economic success, and serve as culture bearers for tribal communities. The primary goals of the LINC partnership are to bolster the Artist in Business Leadership (ABL) program, to strengthen FPF’s work with the reservation-based Native Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFI), and to train FPF artist alumni to become FPF Business Success Coaches capable of providing arts marketing, professional development training, and technical assistance to the NCDFI pool of artists. FPF has received an additional $250,000 to expand their outreach, artist recruitment, training activities, and partnership development within the Great Lakes and Northeast regions.