About NAEB

The Native Arts Ecology Building is a powerful tool that enables us to extend the impact beyond individual artists by supporting Native nonprofit organizations, artist collectives, and Native Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFIs) in their efforts to uplift Native artists within their communities. Our cohort-based grant programs provide nonprofits with resources to identify opportunities for Native artists to thrive and to highlight their value to the broader Native community.

In 2018, First People's Fund 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 on the findings from their 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 comprise the local or regional communities of individuals, formal and informal networks, resources, cultural infrastructure, organizations, and businesses that interact as a system to 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 Grants, encouraging organizations to reach beyond how artists drive creative economies and emphasizing their value to the broader fabric of Indigenous communities, environments and traditions.

Grants