Native Arts and Heritage Fund Grant

Note: This is not a project-based grant. This is an invitation into funding and relationships. There is no required budget and no required project.
Creative West
Regional Arts Organization (USRAO), Creative West was founded on the belief that place matters to the creative process.
Creative West empowers artists and culture-makers with direct, practical resources, delivered regionally.
We offer practical, equity-centered learning experiences and funding opportunities that connect and inspire artists, culture-bearers and communities to build a more inclusive sector, strengthen the arts field, and catalyze change.
The Native Arts + Heritage Fund (NAHF) is a community-rooted award program created to support Native American and Alaska Native artists, culture bearers, and cultural practitioners across the Creative West region.
Co-designed with Native-centered artists, advisors, and community leaders, NAHF centers care, cultural continuity, and self-determination. The fund honors Indigenous ways of knowing and values process over product, relationship over compliance, and well-being as a meaningful measure of impact. In addition to unrestricted funding, selected artists will participate in a three-month virtual cohort experience designed for connection, reflection, and shared learning.
NAHF is administered by Creative West, an organization that uplifts artists and culture bearers across the Creative West region by providing funding, mentorship, and culturally rooted support.
This is not a project-based grant.
This is an invitation into funding and relationships.
Applicants must provide a letter of support from an Alaska Native or Native American community member who can speak to their relationship to community and cultural work.
Unrestricted Funds May Be Used For:

• Taking time to create, reflect, or rest
• Purchasing tools, materials, or supplies
• Covering food, rent, childcare, or transportation
• Supporting wellness: physical, emotional, spiritual, or cultural
• Participating in cultural exchanges, mentorship, or learning
• Creating space to gather, teach, or share knowledge

Eligibility

A resident of one of the 12 Creative West states:

• Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming
• 18 years of age or older
• An individual artist, culture bearer, or cultural practitioner
• Deeply connected to an Alaska Native or Native American community through your creative or cultural work
• Working in any creative or cultural form, including but not limited to:

visual arts, dance, storytelling, poetry, weaving, beadwork, regalia making, language work, film, music, culinary traditions, land-based practices, healing traditions, or intergenerational knowledge-sharing
You do not need to:

• Be a nonprofit
• Have a degree
• Submit a resume or portfolio
• Be formally enrolled, if you have lived connection and community ties