Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with Artist Resources
“The Latina in me is an ember that blazes forever.” – Sonia Sotomayer
Join us this fall in honoring National Hispanic Heritage Month, a four-week tribute to the history and culture of Americans with ancestral ties to Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Begun by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week, this observance later grew to a four-week commemoration under President Ronald Reagan.
Why the mid-month kick-off, you ask? September 15 marks the Independence Day for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, while Mexico’s and Chile’s anniversaries on sovereignty follow on September 16 and September 18 (respectively). Dia de la Raza, aka Columbus Day, also falls within this window on October 12.
To celebrate the occasion, we’ve compiled some wonderful artist resources from NYFA Source lauding the sweeping contributions of Hispanic Americans to our cultural landscape!
National Association of Latino Arts & Culture (NALAC)
The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development, and cultivation of the Latino arts field. In this capacity, NALAC stimulates and facilitates intergenerational dialogues among disciplines, languages, and traditional and contemporary expressions. They offer project grants, artist grants, general operating support, and much more. Here is a selection of their offerings:
Ensemble Project Grant
Master Artist Grant
San Antonio Artist Project Grant
National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA)
The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts was created in 1997 to advance the presence of Latinos in the media, telecommunications, and entertainment industries. The Foundation has concentrated on increasing access for Hispanic artists and professionals while fostering the emergence of new Hispanic talent. Since 1997, the Foundation has also provided scholarships to more than 350 Hispanic students pursuing graduate degrees in the arts at selected universities in excess of $1 million dollars.
Apply to the NHFA Entertainment Industry Scholarship Program.
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts leads the Preserving Diverse Cultures (PDC) initiative, supporting the development of organizations whose mission is deeply rooted in and reflective of the African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American (ALNAH) perspectives. The Division seeks to foster organizational stability and the expansion of arts and cultural programming in ALNAH communities, focuses on the development of ALNAH organizations, and supports the training of capable administrators of ALNAH organizations.
Learn more about Preserving Diverse Cultures.
Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA)
The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) is an arts service organization founded in 1975 to expand the presence of Hispanic actors in both the Latino and mainstream entertainment and communications media. In broadening job opportunities for Hispanic actors, HOLA strengthens and supports the available talent pool through its professional educational services and awards for excellence in theater.
National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation
The mission of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation is to identify, preserve, and enhance Hispanic arts and humanities. Founded in 1983 as a non-profit corporation by Hispanic community leaders, the Foundation opened the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) in 2000, and now serves as a focal point for the study, advancement, and presentation of Hispanic arts, culture, and humanities.
Explore the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation.
National Association of Latino Independent Producers
NALIP’s mission is to promote the advancement, development and funding of Latino/Latina film and media arts in all genres. NALIP is the only national organization committed to supporting both grassroots and community-based producers/media makers along with publicly funded and industry-based producers.
See opportunities through NALIP membership.
Repertorio Espanol
Repertorio Espanol was founded in 1968 by producer Gilberto Zaldivar and artistic director Rene Buch to introduce the best of Latin American, Spanish, and Hispanic American theatre in distinctive, quality productions, and to bring theatre to a broad audience in New York City and across the country. In 2000, MetLife Foundation and Repertorio Espanol joined forces to establish the MetLife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition to discover the best Latino plays and bring them to the attention of the American theatre community.
Read more on Repertorio Espanol.
University of Texas at Austin’s ArtesAméricas
ArtesAméricas presents the best in Latin American and U.S. Latino performing artists to new audiences across the United States. Selected artists receive support for touring in the United States in the areas of fee support, educational materials, marketing, and technical/production assistance for a one year funding cycle.
Submit materials to ArtesAméricas.
Find more opportunities for artists on NYFA Source, a free searchable database of 12,000+ awards, residencies, and services.
Do you have more questions about opportunities for Hispanic artists? Send us your questions using the hashtag #ArtistHotline and join the conversation on Twitter every third Wednesday of the month. Follow @nyfacurrent for updates.
– Jessica Schmitz, Marketing Associate
Image credit: Rimer Cardillo (Fellow ‘85, ’91, ’97), Angel From Titicaca
