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The SHIFT – Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts program supports artist and community-driven projects responding to social, environmental or economic justice issues through a Native lens. The program focuses on efforts that are built upon community cultural assets, resilience and strengths and draw increased attention to Native communities, perspectives and challenges, shifting a national narrative of invisibility, misunderstanding and misappropriation. SHIFT provides invaluable resources for project development, production and presentation for the artists and their collaborators.
The program includes multi-year services for Native artists, cultural practitioners, and community partners, and allows for artists to consider more expansive projects and broad-based platforms for community engagement and presentation, while continuing to drive essential conversation on national and global issues.
The SHIFT program consists of a two-year suite of support services that includes financial resources, professional development, artist/stakeholder convening, cross-sector collaboration, evaluation, exhibiting and presenting.
- Open to independent Native artists or Native artist collectives working in the disciplines of dance/choreography, fiction/poetry writing, film/video, multi-disciplinary arts, music, performance art, theater and screenplay writing, traditional arts or 2D + 3D visual arts.
- Artist applicant must demonstrate US-based residency.
- Artist applicant must be an enrolled member or citizen of a federally-recognized or state-recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native corporation, or of Native Hawaiian ancestry. Applicants will be asked to provide documentation of their Native citizenship or ancestry.
- Artist applicant must be at least 18 years of age and must not be enrolled in a university or higher-education institution during the two-year award period.
This Foundation is an institutionally managed entity through the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, Foundation and Corporate Engagement. Please coordinate with Sarah Carle, Associate Director (sacarle@ucdavis.edu), who can provide insights into the Foundation’s interests, assist in developing a Letter of Intent, and/or contact appropriate foundation program officers.