Photo: We Don't Bow Down, Guardians of the Flame, Mardi Gras Indian Collective, credit: Zack Smith
NPN is committed to building power, opportunities, and resources for artists and communities of color in New Orleans and the South.
As a community service organization, we provide direct support to artists and culture bearers in our region, including funding, professional development, and capacity building. As a movement builder, we provide leadership in emergency preparedness and response initiatives, engage in local and regional efforts that address racial and economic injustice, and advocate within the national philanthropic sector for greater resources for Southern artists and communities of color.
New Orleans
Through our New Orleans-based programs, NPN has shared our mission, values, and vision with our local community and home since 2001.
NPN’s local program supports a diverse group of New Orleans–based artists, arts organizations, and initiatives to work toward a more just and equitable community in which artists can create and thrive.
NPN provides peer-to-peer exchanges, technical assistance, and financial-planning resources to arts organizations. We offer fiscal sponsorship for artists and art collectives, giving access to grant funds and financial support that would otherwise be unavailable to individuals or emerging groups.
Fiscal Sponsorship provides nonprofit umbrella status and financial and administrative services to artists and artist collectives. By managing fiscally sponsored projects, NPN offers artists the opportunity to gain experience with and support through formal granting systems and private philanthropy, so that artists can continue to practice their art. NPN supports artistic practice across the US and sponsors artists and projects operating beyond New Orleans.
or contact Stephanie Atkins at stephanie@npnweb.org.
With seed funding from the Ford Foundation, in April 2020 NPN awarded $150,000 to independent artists of color in Louisiana who had experienced significant financial losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, $50,000 was awarded to 11 Louisiana arts organizations led by people of color. Recipients represent the range of artistic practices that shape our home region, including the significant culture-bearing work of Black Masking Indians.