The US is taking steps to protect and promote its native cultural heritage with the formation of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. With $10 million start-up capital from the Ford Foundation, the foundation will provide grants to artists and arts organizations, support native arts leadership and team up with other organizations to increase financial supports for indigenous arts and cultures. In addition to the grant from the Ford Foundation, the Rumsey Bank of Wintun Indians have given $1.5 million with the initiation of a matching campaign, at which point they will donate another $1.5 million. This is the first fund of its kind in the US and represents a real victory to the native arts community.
The organization will be based in Portland, Oregon and has selected Tara Lulani Arquette, a native Hawaiian as its president and CEO. Prior to joining the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Arquette spent four years as CEO of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association, a private, nonprofit organization committed to supporting Hawaiian culture and arts in tourism.
W. Richard West Jr., the founding director emeritus of the Smithsonian’s American Indian Museum and a Ford trustee, said: “There need to be agencies and institutions that support native contemporary art and artists. For the most part, those agencies and institutions don’t exist.”
Most major media outlets have picked up this story in the last week and the New York Times has a great write up on the organization. There is so much need for the support of the native arts, we are just happy that the United States and several private organizations have recognized this need and helping to provide for their protection and support.
If you want to sign up to receive more information about the iniative, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation has a newsletter that you can sign up for.
No comments:
Post a Comment