Forge Project has taken major new steps to further expand its Native-led organizational structure by deepening its unique model of Indigenous self-determination. This includes the formation of an Indigenous Steering Council, a memorandum of understanding with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, and a transition to 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Under the leadership of Executive Director & Chief Curator Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation) and Director of Indigenous Programs & Relationality Sarah Biscarra Dilley (yaktitʸutitʸu yaktiłhini [Northern Chumash]), Forge has directly supported nearly 300 Indigenous artists, hosted dozens of cultural practitioners and knowledge keepers, and built new audiences and platforms for their work.

Co-founded in 2021 by Becky Gochman and Zach Feuer, Forge was initially established as a private organization to facilitate an immediate, direct impact within the arts and cultural landscape. Since its founding, Gochman has provided seed funding to facilitate the development and implementation of Forge’s Native-led organizational models. Building upon the momentum Forge has achieved over three years, this transition into a nonprofit organization now enacts Indigenous-led governance structures and ensures the organization’s sustainability and long-term impact.

With this shift, the ownership of Forge’s property and assets—including its 60-acre campus, buildings designed by Ai Weiwei, and an art collection of over 175 works, all by contemporary Indigenous artists—have now come under Forge as a nonprofit organization. This transferral of property, assets, and institutional oversight affirms Indigenous self-determination by providing complete agency to Forge’s Native leadership to collectively shape the future of the organization.

Nonprofit status additionally enables Forge to expand their ecosystem as an organization, offering new ways for community members to join in efforts to invest in Indigenous futures, countering historical and ongoing inequities through the redistribution of resources and wealth. As they build their base of support, Forge is committed to tangible wealth redistribution, in which resources and responsibilities are intertwined. They are continuing to develop the various channels through which donors may demonstrate support, including through networks such as Changemakers for Native Art: Collection Stewardship, Equity, and Institutional Change, a group of Forge supporters investing in the future of contemporary Native art by advocating for institutional change in service of Indigenous art and artists.

The Indigenous Steering Council (ISC), a regionally diverse, intergenerational group of seven Indigenous leaders, will set high-level priorities and guide the direction of the organization, positioning continuous and collective Indigenous governance at the core of Forge’s organizational framework.

Forge Project Indigenous Steering Council:

• Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians), Chair

• Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora Nation, Turtle Clan), Vice-Chair

• Jeffrey Gibson (Choctaw and Cherokee)

• G. Peter Jemison (Seneca Nation, Heron Clan)

• Jasmine Neosh (Menominee)

• Monique Tyndall (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans)

• Kerry Swanson (Michipicoten First Nation), Chair Emeritus

Forge Project Board of Directors:

• Mimi Joh-Carnella, President

• John Haworth (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), Treasurer

• Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians), Secretary and ISC Liaison

• Kent Monkman (Cree)

• Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora Nation, Turtle Clan), ISC Liaison

• Kerry Swanson (Michipicoten First Nation)

The continued evolution of Forge reflects the organization’s mission to co-create new and urgent models of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, including through knowledge-sharing, community-building, wealth redistribution, and frameworks for supporting cultural production and building collective action. Forge’s foremost commitment to Indigenous leadership has and continues to directly inform their strategic planning, community contributions, and both public and relational programming. This includes the development of diplomatic relations with Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, within whose homelands Forge is situated, as well as collaborations with broad networks of Indigenous leaders and organizations.

A foundational aspect of Forge’s work includes enacting responsibility to Moh-He-Con-Nuck peoples through formal diplomacy alongside Stockbridge-Munsee Community (SMC). Through close collaboration between Sarah Biscarra Dilley, Director of Indigenous Programs & Relationality, and Monique Tyndall, Director of SMC’s Cultural Affairs Department, they have developed a multi-year memorandum of understanding responsive to community needs, including deliverables focused on ongoing collaboration to expand place-based research and cultural access, engage narrative and visual sovereignty, and support avenues of return through co-developed programming and initiatives.

Read the full press announcement here.