FIRST PEOPLE’S FUND ANNOUNCES 2005 Fellows

First Peoples Fund has selected eight (8) American Indian artists for its 2005 Artists-in-Business Leadership and Cultural Capital Fellowship programs. 

(Rapid City, SD) – The American Indian non-profit organization, First Peoples Fund of Rapid City, South Dakota announces the recipients of their Artist in Business Leadership and Cultural Capital program fellowships.  Meeting the program criteria and stringent review process, the 2005 fellowship class brings their diverse visions, maturity and creative, innovative projects to the First Peoples Fund programs.

The Artist in Business Leadership fellows for 2005 are:

Leonda Fast Buffalo Horse, (Blackfeet) Browning, Montana
Stained glass and porcupine quillwork

Don Montileaux, (Oglala Lakota), Rapid City, South Dakota
Visual artist

Janice Albro, (Sisseton Wahpeton) Barlesville, Oklahoma
Dakota bronze sculptor

Roger Broer, (Oglala Lakota), Hill City, South Dakota
Visual artist

The 2005 Cultural Capital fellowship recipients are:

Phillip Whiteman Jr., (Northern Cheyenne), Lame Deer, Montana
Story teller

Lillian Pitt, (Wasco, Warm Springs and Yakima), Portland, Oregon
Contemporary artist

Deloris Churchill, (Haida), Ketchikan, Alaska
Weaver and basketry artist

Lyn Risling, (Yurok/Karuk/Hupa) McKinnleyville, California
Culturalist and painter

Applications for 2006 Artist in Business Leadership and Cultural Capital Fellowship programs will be available by August 5^th, 2005 by writing to First Peoples Fund or accessing an application on our website at www.firstpeoplesfund.org.

Founded in 1995, First Peoples Fund mission is to honor and support the creative community-centered First Peoples artists; and nurture the collective spirit that allows them to sustain their people.        Collective Spirit™ is the human spirit that provides awareness and a sense of responsibility to sustain the cultural fabric of a community.  Artists selected for the Fund’s programs demonstrate a strong desire to ‘give back’ through teaching and sharing their knowledge.

First Peoples Fund’s grantmaking initiatives include: the annual Community Spirit Awards, Artists-in-Business Leadership, and Cultural Capital Fellowship programs.  The Fund is supported in part by the Ford Foundation’s Media, Arts and Culture, New Works and the Indigenous Knowledge and Expressive Culture Initiatives, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Bush Foundation and All Tribes Foundation.

For further information, please visit www.firstpeoplesfund.org . You can contact us at First Peoples Fund, P.O. Box 2977, Rapid City, SD 57709-2977 or email at info@firstpeoplesfund.org.