The Native Arts & Cultures Foundation would like to sincerely thank everyone who attended and supported our May 17th Gala in Portland, Oregon. We had a memorable time being with you! We also wish to express our gratitude to our sponsors, vendors, volunteers, performers, grantees and artists. Your participation, presence and support were invaluable. We were honored to share with everyone this wonderful evening immersed in Native arts and culture. For those of you who missed our Gala, we are truly sorry. You may have wanted to come but life is complicated, so we are sharing a few links below.

Chief Delvis Heath of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs provided a beautiful blessing that set the spiritual tone for the evening. Lulani Arquette, the CEO and President of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation provided an inspirational introduction. Whether or not you have heard Lulani speak before, I know you will want to read her remarks here >>Lulani Gala Speech

Why was this event so special? The evening began with Seka Hills wine produced by the Yoche DeHe Wintun Nation in California, hors d'oevres and artists who volunteered their time and talents to welcoming our gala guests. Our appreciation and kudos go to Solomon Apio, Toma Villa, Isaac Trimble, Deva Yamashiro, Karina Barba, Malia Hanabusa, Hilina 'I McKenzie, Jerry Chapman and Liz Woody. Solomon demonstrated his weaving and carving. Toma painted in acrylics during the whole evening and then donated the painting to be auctioned. Issac, the Apache fancy dancer enlivened and energized us. Deva and her entourage of Hawaiian dancers and musicians brightened the room with their music and hula. Jerry entranced guests with the art of drum making. Liz Woody read her moving poem which gathered us together.

We were treated to two amazing virtuoso performances by Native recording artists. Gabriel Ayala first played a beautiful classical piece for guitar and then incorporated variations of classical, flamenco and jazz variations in a second signature composition. Next was Raiatea Helm, the first NACF Fellowship in Music award grantee in 2012. Her charismatic performance of two traditional Hawaiian songs transported every single one of us. The angelic tone, flawless pitch and a charismatic delivery exhibited her vocal power and astounding range.

The Portland-based Froelick Gallery and the Quintana Galleries donated artwork from their collections and other prominent native artists donated their art for our auction. This may not seem that unusual, as it has become a common practice for non-profits to include an art action to raise funds for all sorts of worthy causes. What many of us do not consider is that an artist lives by their work. We would never ask a roofer to donate a roof, or a doctor to donate a surgical procedure. We think it is important to note that an artist is making a meaningful sacrifice of something truly valuable that sometimes does not sell for its full value in an art auction for a nonprofit cause. We are extremely grateful for these gifts from our prominent artists. We were delighted that most of the pieces sold at total value or only slightly under, or even exceeded value.

Following the auction, we presented three Legacy awards to our founding visionaries: The Ford Foundation, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. We honored these leaders for their vision and leadership in recognizing the critical need to strengthen and perpetuate Native arts and cultures.

Our first Keep the Creative Spirit award was presented to Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) .We recognized their 50 years of contributions to the field, where thousands of Indigenous students have been able to learn and practice contemporary Native arts while strengthening their cultures.

Through the generosity of our sponsors, the galleries, our artists, guests who bought tickets, in-kind donations and the auction bidders who claimed their treasure at night’s end… $130,000 was raised! The money raised will allow NACF to expand its capacity to ameliorate the imbalances and disadvantages present in the Native arts and cultures field.

The spirit and creative energy generated by the evening will remain everlasting. With your help we will continue to expand our capacity to strengthen, preserve and share Native arts and cultures infusing our communities with hope, wisdom and beauty.

We say humbly and gratefully, Mahalo! [Thank you!]