Apply to the Emerging Native Arts Grant

Overview

The Emerging Native Arts Grant is designed to support early-career Native and Indigenous artists in completing a proposed project, one that results in work that can be shared publicly, whether through exhibition, installation, publication, or other visual presentation.

We welcome applications from artists who are exploring the intersection of tradition and innovation, and whose work reflects a commitment to cultural integrity, creative experimentation, and contemporary relevance.

Eligible Disciplines

We support artists working in the following areas:

This grant does not support performing arts such as musical composition, musical performance, screenplays, or full-length film/video projects.

Eligibility

The Emerging Native Arts Grant is open to artists who are enrolled members of a U.S. federally or state-recognized American Indian tribe; Alaska Native; of Native Hawaiian ancestry; or members of a recognized First Nation in Canada. Applicants will be asked to provide documentation of eligibility.

If you’re a Native artist with a vision for a project you’re ready to complete and share with the world, we encourage you to apply.

Because of the volume of applications we receive, we aren’t able to provide individual feedback on applications. Applicants are notified of the outcome by email.

Why This Grant Matters

Native artists are often underrepresented in mainstream arts funding and gallery systems, especially artists working within traditional frameworks or from non-federally recognized communities. The Emerging Native Arts Grant aims to close that gap by:

Recent Recipient

Melissa Melero-Moose | Access Denied

In Summer 2026, Northern Paiute artist Melissa Melero-Moose received the Emerging Native Arts Grant to develop a series of paintings connecting traditional Numu stories with imagery and materials from the Great Basin. Her work layers gathered materials such as willow and pine nuts with acrylic mediums, and her recent series, Access Denied, addresses limited access to natural resources and limited representation of Indigenous artists.

“The basketry images transforms into the barbed wire that separates Indigenous peoples from access to the basket materials, food, and water on our homelands in Nevada, which is the essence to our traditions and survival.”Melissa Melero-Moose