Source: Native News Network
WINDOW ROCK, ARIZONA – Diné be’ liná, Inc. is one of 817 nonprofits nationwide to receive a National Endowment for the Arts works grant. The amount of the grant is $15,840 to support training for Navajo fiber artists.
Master Navajo weavers will instruct emerging artists in successful weaving methods, procuring materials and promoting their art within and outside of the Navajo Nation.
“Diné be’ iiná is excited to learn of the National Endowment for the Arts’ support for this project, which will provide the skill and knowledge needed to help them gain economic self-sufficiency,”
stated Executive Director TahNibaa Naataanii.
Diné be’ liná is a grassroots nonprofit organization founded in1991. Diné be’ liná’s mission is to restore the balance between Navajo culture, life, and land. While serving all sheep producers, the organization is particularly dedicated to conserving the traditional Navajo-Churro sheep breed as well as to educating the community and the public about the Navajo sheep culture and spirituality.
The organization’s goals are to restore status to sheep herding, wool processing, and fiber arts and to promote the education that is necessary for their pursuit in the modern world. Diné be’ liná’s activities provide leadership, economic development, and support for traditional life ways of Navajo shepherds and fiber artists.
Competition for grants was heavy. The National Endowment for the Arts received 1,547 applications for Art Works grants that totaled $80 million in funding requests. Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.