Racing Magpie launches new Grant Program for Lakota visual creatives

RAPID CITY –Racing Magpie, through a partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation, has launched an exciting new funding opportunity for Lakota visual creatives. This program – Sinew Fund – brings a unique visual arts-based funding opportunity to Lakota Country. Lakota visual creatives can apply individually and in teams to fund innovative projects that will engage with Lakota community in exciting ways rooted in place and land.

The Sinew Fund is taking online application submissions for the first grant funding cycle until August 14, 2023. Sinew Fund will provide grants of $2,500-$5,000 each for $60,000 in grant funding annually. The program will divide the funding into two calls each year to support the seasonality of Lakota visual creatives’ work, with approximately $30,000 distributed in each round of funding. In addition, limited travel funds are available to those traveling more than 250 miles for their project. Individually-led projects may request $2,500.

Lead organizers of collaborative projects may request $5,000. An outside panel will select awarded projects. Award recipients will be notified in late September 2023. “These projects will continue building relationships with human and non-human relatives, enhance the collective dialogue needed for cultural growth and strengthening, and contribute to the continuum of Lakota creative visual arts practices,” said Mary Bordeaux (Sicangu/Oglala Lakota), Co-Director of Racing Magpie.

In 2023, Racing Magpie became a partner in the Andy Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting program to bring the Sinew Fund to life. The Regional Regranting Program partners with local arts organizations nationwide to make grants to artists and collectives for projects that chart new creative territory in their communities; participation is by invitation only. Each network partner creates a program tailored to its region’s specific needs and artistic identity. Established in 2007, the Regional Regranting Program is active in 32 cities and regions, supporting artists whose work falls outside the scope of traditional presenting organizations and/or funding opportunities.

Racing Magpie is a Lakota-centric arts and culture organization located in Rapid City, South Dakota, founded in 2015. We center the Lakota practice of being a good relative in everything that we do and focus our work on elevating and amplifying the work that artists and culture bearers are doing already in our community. From a modern Native gallery to affordable art studios to flexible rental space for community groups, to our artist- and community-centered programs, our relatives are our first priority at all times.

In accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, the mission of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is the advancement of the visual arts. The Foundation manages an innovative and flexible grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy through creative and responsible licensing policies and extensive scholarly research for ongoing catalogue raisonné projects. Driven by the belief that visual art is an essential form of communication, and that innovative creative expression is a crucial component to an open and enlightened democracy, the Foundation funds projects and organizations that challenge art historical and social conventions, address systemic inequities, and push art in new directions, whether through content, concept, aesthetics, process, techniques, or materials.

To learn more about the Sinew Fund and how to apply, please visit racingmagpie.org/sinew

For more information or to schedule interviews, contact Tosa Two Heart at

tosa@racingmagpie.org.

The post Racing Magpie launches new Grant Program for Lakota visual creatives first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

Visit Original Source