ADVANCING INDIGENOUS PERFORMANCE
Deepening support for Indigenous performing artists and touring networks.
The Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP) program was established in 2018 by Western Arts Alliance with generous lead support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
For six years, from 2018 through 2024, the initiative provided educational and career development resources for US-based Indigenous artists and presenters, with the aim to build audiences for Indigenous performing arts. Learn more about the FIRST 6 YEARS HERE
2025 AIP programming continues to build audiences in Portland, OR with the PDX N8V FST (Portland Native Festival)
OVERVIEW
History of AIP
The AIP logo
Impacts
Press and Publications
Native Launchpad
Touring Fund
Travel / Opportunity Fund
Professional Development
PDX N8V FST
AIP Artists
Staff and Steering Committee
Current News (blog)
Basic Toolkit (free download)
WAA Member Resources - access webinars, session recordings, and links to AIP’s broader knowledge network
PDX N8V FST
PORTLAND
NATIVE
FESTIVAL
In the city of bridges and roses, that prides itself in its parades and festivals, there is a new addition to the family: The Portland Native Festival,
PDX N8V FST is a brand-new arrival with a big future ahead of it. Because, despite a checkered history with Oregon’s first people and other peoples of color, times have changed. Today, Portland embraces its diversity and status as a sanctuary for all. Original peoples were displaced to the Grand Ronde and Siletz reservations during the settler period; still, what is now called Portland boasts the ninth-largest urban Indian population in the US. That, together with the fact that at least five local performance venues have programmed Indigenous artists in their 2025-2026 seasons, means that you, Portland, are an audience for Native performing artists. And, in partnership with these companies, we are committed to growing the stage and bringing them to you from across Turtle Island and the globe.
Our first and biggest supporter of this dream is the
James L and Marion F Miller Foundation. They’ve underwritten the pilot 2025 Festival - a series of five offerings across the Portland Metro. Here they are:
Boom Arts
Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts
The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
White Bird Dance
NM Bodecker Foundation
Current AIP News
Funder - PDX N8V FST
THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS
From 2018 through 2024 Native Launchpad and the Advancing Indigenous Performance (AIP) program were made possible by a lead grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Activities in 2025 are supported by the James F and Marion L Miller Foundation in Portland, Oregon.
