McKnight Artist Fellowship for Culture Bearers
McKnight Artist Fellowship for Culture Bearers supports Minnesota culture bearers in sustaining sacred and healing traditions and sharing cultural arts and ancestral knowledge across generations.
Funder: McKnight Foundation
Due Dates: November 3, 2026 (Portal opens) | January 5, 2027, 11:59 p.m. CT (Submissions) | April 2027 (Fellows announced)
Funding Amounts: $25,000 unrestricted award per fellow, plus professional development and other support
Summary: Supports Minnesota culture bearers preserving sacred and healing traditions and passing cultural arts across generations.
Key Information: Applicants must have practiced and passed down knowledge for at least 20 years.
Description
The McKnight Artist Fellowship for Culture Bearers is a partnership between the McKnight Foundation and Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center. It supports individuals preserving sacred and healing traditions through living, evolving cultural practices, including healing, making, drumming, storytelling, dance, and language. Culture bearing is understood as a lifelong practice connecting ancestors and teachers with younger generations, rather than an art practice separate from daily life.
The fellowship honors teachers who sustain ancestral knowledge, culture bearers whose work reaches their communities, and people who have reclaimed cultural traditions. It prioritizes resourcing individuals from the cultural and heritage lineages they practice, particularly where ancestral cultures face transition or outside cultural pressures. Its values include sustained dedication, artistic excellence, and investment in learning and teaching.
