• Four Native Artists Commissioned for Counterpublic Triennial

    The 2026 Counterpublic triennial in St. Louis, open September 10 through December 12 with the title Coyote Time, announced four new commissions by contemporary Native artists in partnership with the Walker Youngbird Foundation

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  • JOURNAL: Collecting with Purpose | What Remains

    What we learned about Nicholas Galanin’s Language removal tools for Indian Children, Mt. Edgecumbe after we acquired it.

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  • Recent Acquisition

    Bob Haozous , Apache (b.1943)

    Buffalo by Boulder

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  • Native Currents - Santa Fe

    Check out photos from our Indian Market launch event at the Coyote Den in Santa Fe

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  • Melissa Melero-Moose Awarded the Emerging Native Arts Grant

    Her proposal for this new series of work is to translate and create new imagery, in mixed media painting creations, that would accompany some of the traditional stories from the Numu (Northern Paiute) region. She uses organic objects like willow, pine nuts, cattails, and earth to create the textures that tell the story of place. These new works would be guided by those similar elements.

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  • JOURNAL : Collecting with Purpose | The Artwork of Beau Dick

    Reid Walker in discussion with LaTiesha Fazakas about this recent acquisition

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  • Sarah Rowe Awarded Native Neon Residency

    “I look forward to embracing the element of neon as a way to animate my work and share a story through blazing color..“

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Our Mission

The Walker Youngbird Foundation supports Native artists through pivotal moments of development, transition, and institutional engagement, with an emphasis on infrastructure, access, and long-term positioning.

Artists

We support Native artists across disciplines through funding, visibility, and long-term investment in their creative and cultural work.

Grants

Our grants empower Native artists to preserve tradition, spark innovation, and lead projects in their communities and beyond.

Journal

The Journal is our living archive—sharing stories, interviews, and insights that center Indigenous voices and artistic leadership.

Who We Are

The Walker Youngbird Foundation is a Native-led organization supporting Native artists through pivotal moments of development, transition, and institutional engagement.

Since our founding in 2024, we have provided direct funding in the form of grants, fellowships, and residencies alongside mentorship, institutional partnerships, and acquisitions.

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Art. Tradition. Support.

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View fullsize Counterpublic's curatorial process starts by asking what the city of St. Louis needs, before any art is chosen. Starting there, a commitment is made to answer to a community, and that accountability is what turns listening into action. More than 1,4
View fullsize We are excited to share that this diptych by 2025 Emerging Native Arts Grantee, Lehuauakea (Native Hawaiian), “I Walk With My Ancestors,” has been acquired by the National Gallery of Art. Each measuring roughly five feet tall, these works
View fullsize Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time comes to St. Louis September 10–December 12, bringing nearly 50 commissions and selected historical works to public sites across the city. The Walker Youngbird Foundation has partnered with Counterpublic to supp
View fullsize We launched 2026 Market week at the Coyote Den, raising a glass to the artists, curators, museum directors, collectors, and friends who make the week what it is. People like to say Native art is having a moment. Standing in that room, it didn’t