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- By Native News Online Staff
The Native Arts + Cultures Foundation (NACF) has just announced its 2025 LIFT Award recipients, ten early-career Indigenous artists recognized for their bold voices, creative visions, and commitment to cultural and community impact.
Chosen from a national pool of over 100 applicants, the awardees span a wide range of disciplines, from pottery to poetry, basketry to beat-making.
What unites them is a shared commitment to cultural sovereignty, environmental justice, healing, and storytelling that centers Native life and experience.
The LIFT Award includes $15,000 in funding, plus professional development and marketing support, giving these artists the tools and space to launch new projects rooted in their own communities and traditions.
This year’s LIFT artists are:
- Aaron Baumgardner (Catawba) – Potter and basketmaker
- Beth Bush (Potawatomi, Odawa) – Traditional artist
- Sáandlaanaay Kimberly Fulton Orozco (Tlingit and Haida) – Visual artist
- Danielle Olana Jagelski (Red Cliff Ojibwe/Oneida) – Musician
- Gregory Juan (Native Hawaiian) – Musician
- Jesse Kahoonei (Kanaka ʻŌiwi/Native Hawaiian) – Visual artist
- Rhiannon Skye Tafoya (Eastern Band Cherokee & Santa Clara Pueblo) – Visual artist
- Delia Touché (Spirit Lake Nation) – Visual artist
- Jared Tso (Navajo) – Traditional artist
- Anangookwe Wolf (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe, Fort Peck Assiniboine, Dakota) – Poet
Their projects will explore issues like intergenerational trauma, land stewardship, language preservation, and the celebration of Native joy and resistance.
"I am thrilled to celebrate this remarkable cohort of artists! The LIFT, Early Career Support for Native Artists program was created to champion emerging Indigenous voices, honoring the depth of our Traditional Knowledge while embracing the boundless innovation and ingenuity of our Native people,” Shyla Spicer (Yakama Nation/Seneca Cayuga), President, CEO, Native Arts Cultures Foundation said in a press release. “At NACF, we believe in providing space, support, and sovereignty for artists to dream boldly, create fearlessly, and lead with vision. I cannot wait to witness the ways these artists will shape our cultural landscape in the year ahead and across their extraordinary careers."
The LIFT initiative is part of NACF’s broader mission to invest in Native-led art and storytelling. Support for the 2025 LIFT program comes in part from the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation.
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