RADICAL IMAGINATION

RADICAL IMAGINATION

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RADICAL IMAGINATION ARTIST GRANT

Embrace the radical. Give breath to your imagination.

A whole story begins with one word. Words are the roots that bear the fruit of deeper meaning, messages and significance. Indigenous languages are embedded with deep meaning conveyed through each word. As Indigenous Peoples, we share other common, yet foreign languages. They too have their own way of conveying meaning and its own roots.

APPLICATION PORTAL

We are currently NOT accepting applications.

Applications will open in Summer 2025.

RADICAL IMAGINATION PURPOSE & INTENT

As part of NDN Collective’s mission to Defend, Develop and Decolonize, Radical Imagination Artists, Creatives and Culture Bearers will:

  1. Propose solutions to dismantle structural racism through their art & creativity
  2. Imagine and practice justice within their communities while working to rebuild and assemble a better world
  3. Amplify community voices to counter inequitable systems, policies and practices

Through artistic creativity, the hearts and minds of each artist will bring forward new visions for just and equitable behaviors and structures, so that the dimensions of structural racism (culturally, historically, institutionally, politically and ideologically) are dismantled and a better world is rebuilt and assembled.  

Ats NDN Collective, we are unabashedly and unapologetically NDN.  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. 

We invite 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. 

Ten Indigenous artists/culture bearers/artist cooperatives/partnerships or Indigenous arts organizations of all traditions, mediums and genres will be awarded grants up to two years at $50,000 per year.  Applicants may propose a two-year budget that includes a living stipend, as well as support for the supplies and equipment necessary to publicly amplify the work and develop a community messaging platform.  12% of funds must also support artist self-care, health and well-being.  Grant funds are considered taxable income and artists will be responsible for managing related income tax related requirements. Artists must report and share their creative progress on a bi-annual basis. Funds will be distributed in accordance with two 12-month work plans and projected budgets. Artists must be Indigenous to the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Islands of Hawai’i, Boriken/Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

1. Align with NDN Collective’s mission to build the collective power of Indigenous Peoples, communities, and nations to exercise our inherent right to self-determination, while fostering a world that is built on foundation of justice and equity for all people and Mother Earth.

2. Identify as an Indigenous person whose ancestry comes from the original people of what is now known as Canada, the United States (including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Borikén/Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands), and Mexico. 

3. At least 18 years of age by the time the Fellowship begins.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

General Grant Information: grantsinfo@ndncollective.org