The Walker Youngbird Foundation is helping Native artists move ambitious projects from concept to public presentation through its Emerging Native Arts Grant.
Awarded twice annually, the grant provides each recipient with $15,000, mentorship, and a curated showcase. It supports early-career Native and Indigenous artists completing projects intended for public presentation through an exhibition, installation, publication, or another visual format.
Eligible disciplines include painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, installation, short video, sound art, and digital work. The program also supports culturally rooted practices such as beadwork, quillwork, textiles and carving when artists bring an innovative approach to the work. Performing arts, screenplays and full-length film or video projects are not eligible.
The foundation’s most recently announced recipient is Melissa Melero-Moose, an enrolled member of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and a mixed-media artist based near Reno, Nevada. Announced in July 2026, Melero-Moose received the grant to develop a series of paintings connecting traditional Numu, or Northern Paiute, stories with imagery and materials from the Great Basin.
Her work incorporates gathered materials such as willow, pine nuts, cattails, and earth. The new paintings are being developed for a public exhibition, although the venue and dates had not been announced as of September 12.
Founded in 2024, the Native-led Walker Youngbird Foundation supports Indigenous artists through funding, mentorship, exhibitions, and institutional partnerships. The grant is open to enrolled members of federally or state-recognized American Indian tribes, eligible Alaska Native applicants connected to an Alaska Native corporation, people of Native Hawaiian ancestry, and members of recognized First Nations in Canada. Applicants must provide documentation confirming their eligibility.
Applications are currently closed, and the foundation has not posted dates for its next round. Emerging Native artists can join the foundation’s email list and begin preparing a project proposal and work samples for a future application period.
More information is available at walkeryoungbird.org.
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