Convenings


First Light Alaska
$15,000
Anchorage, AK
2025

To support “Curating the North 2025,” a three-day gathering organized by the Alaska Native Museum Sovereignty group, taking place in Anchorage, Alaska and scheduled April 1-3, 2025. Prepared in collaboration with the Arctic Culture Lab, the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center the event features artist workshops, panel discussions, think tanks, and a pop-up exhibition focused on land-based curation. Alaska Native scholars, artists, and museum professionals, Indigenous curators from other northern communities, as well as Indigenous curators from other northern communities, such as Canada, Greenland, and Sápmi are also invited to share their knowledge. Information about the project will be shared on the Arctic Culture Lab’s webpage and may be featured in First American Art Magazine, with plans to document the event through photographs and a brief overview.

The Chinati Foundation
$18,000
Marfa, TX
2025

To support “Ch’íná’itíh (Chinati) Intertribal Noise Symposium 2025,” a semi-annual gathering of Native American sound artists working at the experimental edges of the sonic arts. Co-presented by The Chinati Foundation and Atomic Culture in Marfa, Texas, from March 14 to 16, 2025, the convening features listening sessions, performances, conversations, and community gatherings at venues across Marfa. The symposium aims to acknowledge and examine the complexity and diversity of contemporary Indigenous sonic practices, focusing on collaborative research and engagement and highlights Native American sonic agency while fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue on the intersections of sound, art, and resistance. The program will have a website, and an audio and video recording.

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
$20,000
Portland, OR
2025

To support “2025 NACF Convening” program consisting of a series of one-day, in-person gatherings across locations including Santa Fe, Phoenix, Juneau, and Seattle, as well as at the NACF’s own Center for Native Arts and Cultures in Portland, Oregon, from March 1 through December 31, 2025. These events engage Native artists, leaders, and scholars in dialogues about contemporary Native arts and cultures, focusing on advancing visibility, fostering professional development, and creating spaces for cultural exchange. Emphasizing relationship-building and knowledge exchange, these gatherings aim to deepen connections and expand the influence of Native arts across the field. This in-person event is also recorded; the videos shared on NACF’s social media platforms and through our email newsletters. A quarterly publication, available in digital and printed edition, will detail and celebrate the convenings.

El Paso Museum of Art
$20,000
El Paso, TX
2025

“Latinx Muralism Exchange: El Paso, TX and Los Angeles, CA” is a three-day convening hosted by the El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA), coinciding with the annual Borderland Jam Public Graffiti and Art Show (May 23–25, 2025). The program brings together artists, academics, and community members to explore muralism’s legacy in Latinx art, the intersections of cultural identity and public art, and murals as platforms for social activism. A publication and digital catalogue will document the convening, ensuring accessibility to wider audiences through EPMA’s website and associated platforms.

Newberry Library
$25,000
Chicago, IL
2025

To support “Say It with Pictures: Black Photography, Chicago, and the Great Migration,” a project bringing together scholars, curators, and community members for a one-day in-person event at the Newberry Library in Chicago in the fall of 2025. This ongoing, multi-faceted project explores the under-recognized impact of African American commercial photographers working in Chicago between 1890 and the 1930s. Key topics of discussion include exhibition content and learning goals, publication content and format, strategies for community engagement, and areas for further scholarly exploration. This closed convening will inform an exhibition on view at the Newberry Library in 2027, shape an accompanying publication, and encourage participants to think expansively about “Say It with Pictures” as a collaborative, continuing project.

Tate
$25,000
London, UK
2025

To support “Inclusive Practice in the Art Museum: Writing for Audiences and Artists,” a convening program that takes the exhibition ‘Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power’, as its starting point, delivering two workshops, followed by a Call for Papers and symposium, and culminating in a roundtable hosted by Tate. The program, scheduled April 1, 2025–September 30, 2026, focuses on examining the impact of the exhibition on interpretation practices in art museums, particularly in the US and the UK, and seeks to identify inclusive and equitable strategies for engaging diverse audiences. The outcomes will be disseminated through Tate’s research channels, including peer-reviewed articles, video essays, and other digital formats, ensuring broad access and long-term impact.

Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West
$25,000
Norman, OK
2025

To support “Belonging: Native American Art in Settler Contexts,” a multi-vocal interdisciplinary gathering developed to analyze the concept of “Belonging” through Indigenous creative practices and knowledge systems and explore its points to agency, animacy, and distinctive epistemological systems. Hosted at the University of Oklahoma and scheduled March 6-7, 2025, the event comprises a variety of formats, such as readings, roundtables, panels, and community discussions, to encourage both formal and informal conversation, creative practice, and foster dialogue on Native American art, ancestral belongings, and relationality within and across communities. Open to the public, the program will be live streamed and recorded, the proceedings will be published.

Phoenix Art Museum
$25,000
Phoenix, AZ
2025

“MARS: A Reawakening” explores the legacy of Movimiento Artístico del Río Salado (MARS), a Phoenix-based collective championing Chicano and Native American artists through exhibitions, educational initiatives, and cultural events. The symposium, hosted at the Phoenix Art Museum on September 20, 2025, features keynote speakers and panels examining MARS’s role as an alternative art space, its contributions to community-building, and its impact on the Southwest arts ecosystem. Symposium will be live-streamed and recorded for a larger audience, with future dissemination through a monograph, YouTube videos, podcasts, and an archival repository at the Lemon Art Research Library.

National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
$25,000
Chicago, IL
2025

To support “Engage 2025,” a two-day convening tailored for artists and small arts organizations of the Puerto Rican diaspora, scheduled September 8–10, 2025. The conference features educational lectures, workshops, and artistic programming focused on Puerto Rican art history, archival practices, and cultural heritage preservation, alongside authentic cuisine, music, and performances. It focuses on the historical and cultural relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States, emphasizing the contributions of Puerto Rican artists in redefining American art through themes of identity, resistance, and diaspora experiences. Open to the public, the program will be livestreamed and recorded.

Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), University of Pennsylvania
$25,000
Philadelphia, PA
2025

“New Constructions: A Symposium in Honor of Mavis Pusey” is a two-day convening celebrating the artistic legacy of Mavis Pusey, scheduled October2–3, 2025. Its objective is to lay the foundation for a deeper understanding and future scholarship of Pusey’s practice; co-organized with partners at the Studio Museum and Getty Research Institute, and hosted at the ICA University of Pennsylvania. Public day sessions will highlight Pusey’s work within modern Jamaican art, Caribbean Modernism, and Black abstraction, while a closed-door day will address research methodologies, conservation, and challenges of working with posthumous artists’ legacies. A comprehensive digital and physical publication, including transcripts, essays, and visual documentation, will be freely available through ICA’s website and bookstore.

Franconia Sculpture Park
$25,000
Shafer, MN
2025

The “Two-Eyed Sight” symposium, scheduled September 21–22, 2025, centers on the celebration of modern Indigeneity through diverse mediums, including sculpture, storytelling, and interpretive works. Engaging Indigenous artists, scholars, and cultural bearers, it aims to connect Indigenous values with contemporary realities while fostering public engagement through workshops, artist talks, and community meals. A publication, “Two-Eyed Sight,” will be produced, archiving the art, discussions, and interpretive insights of the symposium for scholarly and general access, with copies available both digitally and physically.

Blackfeet Community College
$25,000
Browning, MT
2025

“Cross-cultural Connections: The Niitsitapi, Winold Reiss, and Art—An International Convening” facilitates a three-day gathering (September 24–26, 2025) designed to deepen understanding of the interactions between the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot peoples) and German American modernist Winold Reiss. Through presentations, workshops, and community open house activities, the convening highlights Niitsitapi perspectives and fosters collaboration among Indigenous and international scholars, artists, curators, and museum professionals. Outcomes, including publications, recordings, and digital archives, will be disseminated widely to ensure accessibility and long-term impact.