"Art in the Park" Lessons for First Nations’ NACBI Grantees

In mid-July 2015, First Nations Development Institute convened some of its grantees under its Native Arts Capacity Building Initiative (NACBI) at a Peer Learning Meeting in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. The grantees were there to observe and learn from a successful arts event called "Art in the Park" that is organized and co-sponsored by Four Bands Community Fund, the City of Eagle Butte and the Cheyenne River Chamber of Commerce. First Nations’ grantees all work with programs in their own areas that support Native arts and artists, so the Art in the Park event was a good lesson is creating and marketing an event, incorporating artist and vendor perspectives, and even hearing about financial dos and don’ts of such an undertaking. Participants in the Peer Learning included the co-sponsors plus Lakota Funds, Sitting Bull College, personnel from First Nations Development Institute, and various artists. First Nations’ NACBI is generously funded by the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation.