Indigenous Arts & Culture Grant

Status: Closed

The Indigenous Arts and Culture (ARTS) Grant is a City of Seattle funded program to provide grants for arts and cultural events and activities in neighborhoods through community-based lead organizations.

Cultural events, experiences, and spaces provide the reason for people to gather, confer, identify, and build community, which are ever more critically important during the current COVID pandemic and recovery process.  This program seeks to support recovery efforts through collaboration, equity, resiliency, and safety in alignment with the City of Seattle’s vision of One Seattle.  

Na’ah Illahee Fund, as the lead organization for the City of Seattle, shall subcontract to Indigenous community organizations and small businesses to carry out inclusive and creative arts and culture endeavors that further the city’s pandemic recovery process. Applicants must either conduct events or activities within the City of Seattle.

These activities and events funded through Na’ah Illahee Fund seek to benefit Indigenous communities as one of the hardest hit by COVID and the importance of that community to arts and culture on the Waterfront. Activities and events should seek to rebuild and assist in arts and culture recovery; events do not need to be entirely new.

The total amount of funding available through this lead organization for this designated area is $85,000.

Requested amounts from applicants for this specific program can range between $8,500 and $17,000.

Criteria:

• Criteria 1: Strength of Project and Relationship to Neighborhood or Community (10 Points )
• Criteria 2: Community Building, Outreach, and Accessibility (10 Points)
• Criteria 3: Background and Capacity  (5 Points)

We Seek to Support (Who is Eligible)

• Non-profit organizations (arts and culture, and others) focused on events or activities within the designated neighborhood or community; 
• Small business with a City of Seattle business license, however, a small business who is a sole proprietor can apply but must collaborate with other individual artists or others for the proposed project;
• Applicants can apply to more than one Lead Organization for this city-wide program, however, can receive funding from only one Lead Organization (see list of other Lead Organizations at end of this document);
• Applicants should be place-based in the designated neighborhood/community and should have a history and track record of direct connection to the arts and cultural life of the neighborhood/community. This can mean either an Indigenous organization/small business with an address located within the Seattle city limits.
• Activations/events must be broadly advertised and accessible to the public.  Free event admission is preferred, or using a low-cost or sliding fee scale, and events should be physically accessible;
• Applicants must have capacity to successfully manage the proposed project, prepare regular reporting, and complete final reports due no later than September 1, 2023;
• All events shall provide event liability insurance and name Na’ah Illahee Fund and City of Seattle as additionally insured;
• Awarded programs will be required to follow all current Federal, State, County, and City COVID-19 mandates and protocols.  More information and in other languages are available on the  City of Seattle COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement website. (https://www.seattle.gov/covid-19)

Who Should Apply? (Funds May be Used For)

• Costs directly related to event/activation (staffing, equipment rental, paying performers, materials, etc.)
• Examples (sample) of public activations or events:
• A series of performances at an indoor or outdoor venue
• Temporary public art or lighting (permit/approval must be secured prior to award)
• Festivals, fairs, or public events (can be for specific part of a larger event)
• Art exhibits
• Art or cultural workshops or classes.

What Types of Groups Are We Unable to Support? (Funds May Not be Used For)          

• Events held outside Seattle city limits
• Capital improvements or purchase of equipment
• Travel costs (local transportation costs for performers, for example, are ok)
• Religious events
• Programming in which fundraising is the primary purpose.