Mapping Native Arts Ecosystems
Problem
Native arts ecosystems are rich yet under-recognized, lacking comprehensive data and tools to drive awareness and investment.
Arts ecosystems—of the various artistic and cultural resources and assets that together comprise the cultural vitality of a community —are fundamental to a community’s economic strength, social cohesion, civic engagement, and cultural identity. Yet despite their abundance and impact, Native arts ecosystems remain chronically underfunded and under-recognized by mainstream funders and policymakers. Philanthropic giving to Native communities is disproportionately low, relatively few large donors support Native communities or causes, and public funding for the arts is often lacking and inconsistent.
At the same time, research and documentation often overlook the specific ways that artistic and cultural resources are embedded in Native communities’ environments, spirit, people, and lifeways. Native communities need current, community-defined data and tools to document their arts ecosystems, secure targeted investment, and advance Indigenous data sovereignty.
Solution
First Peoples Fund and NORC will co-create research-backed tools to map and strengthen Native arts ecosystems.
In partnership with First Peoples Fund (FPF), a national nonprofit that supports Native arts and culture, NORC will combine Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles to create an up-to-date Indigenous Arts Ecology (IAE) framework documenting the range of arts and cultural resources present within Native communities, and create practical resource mapping tools. The study begins with a landscape review and literature scan to revise FPF’s existing IAE framework, ensuring it reflects contemporary cultural practices in today’s political and cultural context.
The team will then select three contrasting Native communities—such as an urban arts hub, a rural reservation, and a non-reservation regional ecosystem—to serve as case study sites. For each site, the research team will integrate administrative data scans, web and social media scraping, and deep community engagement to create comprehensive arts and cultural resource maps for each community.
NORC’s qualitative, geospatial, and data visualization teams will synthesize the qualitative and quantitative data we gather into interactive, web-based maps, which will be made publicly available alongside an updated IAE framework and a step-by-step Indigenous Arts Ecosystems Mapping Toolkit. Throughout, the partnership between FPF and NORC will follow tribal IRB/Research Review Board processes and Indigenous data sovereignty principles, emphasizing shared power, community benefit, and ethical stewardship of data.
Result
Native communities will gain practical tools to document their arts resources and make the case for investment.
The study will produce a public-facing website featuring interactive maps for each participating community, visualizing the presence and distribution of key artistic and cultural resources. Each map will incorporate narrative descriptions and community voices drawn from qualitative data, highlighting both areas of strength and opportunities for further investment.
An updated, community-informed IAE framework and an Indigenous Arts Ecosystems Mapping Toolkit will provide practical, adaptable guidance for other Native communities to conduct their own mapping efforts. These tools will support local planning, advocacy, storytelling, and funding requests, while advancing Indigenous data sovereignty by centering community control over data and interpretation. Finally, an academic journal article and conference and webinar presentations will contribute new knowledge to the broader research base on arts resources, community development, and participatory methods.
Project Leads
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Gwendolyn Rugg
Senior Research ScientistPrincipal Investigator -
Mitchell R. Barrows
Research ScientistProject Director -
Carol Hafford
Senior FellowSenior Advisor
“Through this partnership, we’re building tools that help Native communities map their arts ecosystems, tell more complete stories about artists’ and culture bearers’ contributions, and secure the resources they deserve.”
