NDN Collective Announces the Radical Imagination Grant for Six Indigenous Artists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2020

Rapid City, SD— “Radical” may mean many things to many people, but its essence and its core requires us to get to the root of things. NDN Collective is calling upon Indigenous artists committed to getting to the root of things, to embrace the radical and give breath to their imagination. The NDN Collective Radical Imagination Grant is designed to support Indigenous artists to radically imagine a new future, a better normal, and a just world for all people and the planet.

“The time for radical imagination and transformation is now,” says Gaby Strong, NDN Collective Director of Grantmaking. “While we grapple with a global pandemic and the demands for justice, there is no better time for Indigenous voices and leadership to bring forward the blueprints for justice and equity. We know that we can bring beauty, creativity and innovation to a new system, co-creating a new way and a new world that is truly just for all people and the planet.”

Six Indigenous artists/culture bearers of all traditions, mediums and genres will be awarded grants of $50,000 for the Radical Imagination Grant. They are called upon to bring their words, their stories, their art, their dance, their songs and action to NDN Collective’s Radical Imagination. Artists must be based in the United States or U.S. Territories including Puerto Rico.

Over the course of a year, artists, poets, painters, and storytellers will amplify a new narrative and vision for the new normal for Indigenous people. In these pandemic times, where the racial and social inequities and brutalities have been laid bare, a radical imagination is needed to not only envision a new future, but to build it.

“As Indigenous Peoples, justice for us is not just about racial justice, it includes complex political, sovereign, and self-determination issues as well,” says Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective President and CEO.

As part of NDN Collective’s mission to Defend, Develop and Decolonize, Radical Imagination Artists and Culture Bearers will, 1) Imagine and practice justice within their communities; and 2) Amplify community voices to counter inequitable government and corporate policies and practices.

“At NDN Collective, we believe in the power, the creativity, the audacity and the commitment of artists, culture bearers and designers to create and imagine new paths, new futures, and new worlds,” says Gaby Strong. “We are calling upon Indigenous artists to imagine, design and create projects that propose solutions to our most intractable societal problems– whether it be protecting the health and wellbeing of communities from the COVID-19 Pandemic, clean water, earth-centered economies, Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, renewable energy or sustainable agriculture, or law enforcement reforms, we invite you to use your art and the Radical Imagination Artist grant as a platform to amplify your work as a viable solution.”

To learn more about the Radical Imagination Grant and apply, visit the NDN Collective website at http://ndncollective.org/grants-fellowship/radical-imagination-grant/. Letters of Interest and samples of work must be submitted by July 10th.

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ABOUT THE NDN COLLECTIVE

Founded in 2018, the NDN Collective’s mission is to build the collective power of Indigenous Peoples, communities, and Nations to exercise our inherent rights to self-determination, while fostering a world that is built on a foundation of justice and equity for all people and the planet. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.