The Wisconsin Arts Board instituted the Woodland Indian Arts Initiative in 2001. The Woodland Indian Arts (WIA) Program provides a foundation of cultural and economic support for traditional and contemporary Native American arts in Wisconsin, and works to develop an arts network dedicated to providing administrative support of the same, representative of Wisconsin’s twelve federally-recognized tribes, bands and urban Indian communities. The WIA provides financial support for arts projects and efforts that directly benefit Wisconsin’s Native American communities.
Funding
The Arts Board annually distributes funds from Gaming Compact monies to support artistic activities among Wisconsin's tribes, bands and urban Indian communities. Nonprofit organizations, schools or units of government that provide direct services to members of Wisconsin’s Native American communities can apply. See
Woodland Indian Arts grant program for details.
Reports
2014: The Wisconsin Arts Board partnered with the Wisconsin Indian Education Association in 2013-14 to conduct fieldwork in multiple Native communities across the state. The goal was to assess the level and types of arts activities as well as to identify needs and interests in Native arts communities in Wisconsin. Three reports summarize the findings:
This manuscript documents some of the 75 master artists and 150 apprentices from Ho Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Oneida, and Stockbridge-Munsee nations who participated in the Arts Board's Folk Arts Apprentice Program' earliest years.