Forge Project Awards $150,000 to Native American Artists

Native-led arts and culture non-profit Forge Project announced this week the recipients of the 2024 Forge Fellowship.

“We are thrilled to host this year’s cohort of Forge Project Fellows,” Forge Project Director of Indigenous Programs & Relationality Sarah Biscarra Dilley (yaktitʸutitʸu yaktiłhini), said in a press release. “We look forward to supporting their time in residence, whether it be anchored in uninterrupted time to work, engaging others through a public or invitation-only program, or the spaciousness to rest.”

Each Forge Project Fellow will receive a $25,000 grant to support their artistic endeavors. During their three-week residencies on-site, they will also enjoy full access to the Forge Project's facilities, libraries, and contemporary Indigenous art collection.

Fellows will also have opportunities to showcase their work through events and online platforms.

The selection process for the 2024 Forge Fellowship involved a panel of esteemed Native artists, scholars, educators, and former fellows. This year's selection process also involved a panel specifically for fellows from the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

Established in 2021, the Forge Fellowship has recognized Native leaders across various fields annually. Previous fellows include Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians), Jasmine Neosh (Menominee), Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), Rainer Posselt (Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohicans), and Tania Willard (Secwepemc Nation).

Meet the 2024 Forge below.

Delbert Anderson (Navajo/Diné)
Delbert Anderson, a Diné jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator, blends Navajo "spinning songs" with jazz and funk, creating a unique sound in Native American jazz. Leading the Delbert Anderson Quartet, he infuses Diné culture into his music, with notable projects like "The Long Walk: 1,674 Days" and an upcoming tribute to Indigenous Jazz legends Don Cherry and Jim Pepper. Anderson also runs the "Build A Band" program, teaching jazz improvisation to youth with a focus on Diné values. Recognized by Chamber Music America and the First Peoples Fund, his work has been featured in the New York Times and NPR. Photo credit: Maurice Johnson.

Schon Matthew Duncan (United Keetoowah Band of the Cherokee Indians)
Schon Duncan, is a filmmaker, writer, actor, and language activist deeply engaged in community, arts, and education. After youth work in Tulsa, Duncan immersed themselves in Cherokee language revitalization through the Cherokee Language Master-Apprentice Program in northeastern Oklahoma. Now at Dahlonegah Public School, they promote Cherokee language and lifeways to students of all ages. Duncan's recent achievements include directing the documentary ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak) and voicing ᎢᎾᎨᎢ (In The Woods). Dedicated to fostering Cherokee youth culture through film and art, their work exemplifies a steadfast commitment to language revitalization and mentorship.

Donna Hogerhuis (Stockbridge-Munsee)
Donna Hogerhuis, is an emerging basket maker specializing in Mohican technique and design. With a master's in museum studies from the University of Washington and prior fellowship with the Smithsonian Native American Program, Donna now serves as the Manager of the Preservation Program’s Library, Archives, and Repository for a Northwest Tribe. For over 25 years, she has supported Tribal members, artists, scholars, and government entities in researching, publishing, and exhibiting Washington’s Tribal culture and history. Drawing from her own Tribe's history, Donna emphasizes the significance of studying ancestral designs and artifacts. Descended from generations of basket makers, she is currently researching Mohican basket makers and northeast designs to honor their legacy.

Lindsay McIntyre (Inuit)
Lindsay McIntyre, an acclaimed filmmaker and artist of Inuit and mixed settler heritage, specializes in 16mm film, exploring themes of portraiture, place, and personal histories through an analog process. Notably, she crafts her own emulsion with caribou gelatin. With a portfolio comprising over 40 short experimental and documentary films and expanded cinema performances, she is currently developing her debut feature, "The Words We Can’t Speak," which earned her the Women in the Director’s Chair Feature Film Award and a 2024 Sundance Native Lab Fellowship. Her short film "NIGIQTUQ ᓂᒋᖅᑐᖅ" (2023) received the Best Short Live Action award at imagineNATIVE, along with other prestigious honors. McIntyre is a COUSIN Fellow, a member of the IRIS Film Collective, and has been recognized with the REVEAL Indigenous Art Award and the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for Excellence in Media Arts by the Canada Council. Additionally, she shares her expertise by teaching Film + Screen Arts at Emily Carr University of Art + Design on unceded Coast Salish Territory.

Mikayla Patton (Oglala Sioux Lakota)
Mikayla Patton, an interdisciplinary visual artist based in Pennsylvania, pioneers a unique approach melding recycled paper-making with earth elements to craft sculptural objects. Her creations delve into Indigenous intimacies, materiality, and sustainability, viewed through a Lakota lens. Incorporating glass beads, porcupine quills, leather, and plants, she explores themes of healing, growth, and renewal. Holding a BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, her work has graced prestigious venues such as the Texas Tech School of Art in Lubbock, All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis, and the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. Recognized in publications like Hand Papermaking magazine, First American Art, and Pasatiempo, Patton has garnered numerous fellowships, awards, and residencies, including the Ucross Foundation, First Peoples Fund, Native Arts and Culture Foundation, and the 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellowship.

Sterling Anthony Schreiber II (Stockbridge-Munsee)
Sterling Schreiber II, an enrolled member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, resides with his family on the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin. They operate a 25-acre produce farm and apiary, focusing on cultivating cleaner and healthier foods for local tribal communities. Through collaborations with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition, and the Tribal Elder Food Box Program, their produce and honey reach over 2,000 Elders within tribal communities across Wisconsin. Together with his brother Brock, Sterling initiated a program to provide tribal Elders with access to venison, a vital traditional food source. They aim to expand the initiative to educate the community's youth about the outdoors while continuing to support Elders with traditional foods. Sterling advocates for tribal food sovereignty and security, actively engaging in his tribal community.

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