By Samoa News [email protected] Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — In August 2025, Creative West introduced the awardees of Creative West’s inaugural Pacific Jurisdictions Artist Fund (PJAF). Forty-five artists and cultural practitioners across American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan, Rota, and Tinian) will receive unrestricted support for their creative and cultural work.
Awardees, range from traditional tattooists and weavers, poets and musicians to digital storytellers, were selected through a panel of Pacific Island reviewers, ensuring a process that reflects the values and voices of the region.
This September, artists will be celebrated during community gatherings on each island, fostering cultural sharing and recognition of their contributions.
According to their website, “Creative West empowers artists and culture-makers with direct, practical resources, delivered regionally.” They “offer practical, equity-centered learning experiences and funding opportunities that connect and inspire artists, culture-bearers and communities to build a more inclusive sector, strengthen the arts field, and catalyze change.”
It is a trust-based grant fund designed specifically for artists and culture-bearers in the Pacific Jurisdictions. It was launched in spring 2025.
“The program provides unrestricted awards to support creative practice, cultural preservation, rest, healing, or daily needs — however each artist defines it.”
The PJAF, according to Creative West, is a community-rooted initiative co-designed by artists, cultural practitioners, and creative leaders from American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
“This grant program centers cultural sustainability, equity, and care — offering unrestricted support to artists living and creating at the intersection of identity, tradition, and place.”
CREATIVE WEST
Established in 1974 as a nonprofit U.S. Regional Arts Organization (USRAO), Creative West was founded on the belief that place matters to the creative process. Fifty years later, communities of place, practice, experience, and identity remain fundamental to our work, framing our understanding of how culture is creatively produced and collectively experienced.
They serve a broad and diverse region that stretches from the Arctic Coast to the Desert Southwest and from the Great Plains to the Pacific Islands. Their focus is on efforts supporting artists, arts agencies, and arts organizations to build healthy, creative communities.
AMERICAN SAMOA PJAF AWARDEES 2025
Fourteen of the 45 artists and cultural practitioners are from American Samoa. They are: Devynne Fuga, Elyssa Lim, Gabrielle T. Langkilde, Korina Lee, Losalia Ah Chee, Malosi T. Lui, Marcella Fitisone, Nicholas Frances King Jr. (Poloa Village), Nofo Te’o-Tuna Porotesano, Renisha T. Reid, Ruth Siilima Tauiliili-Mahuka, Samantha Teleso, Sarojni E. Singh, Tamiano Gurr
Section: RegionalTags: 2025 Pacific Jurisdiction Artist Fund
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