• We exist to keep decision-making power with communities. Support those communities already doing the work. Disrupt traditional grant-making. Move money.

    about the waterers

  • Relationships over transactions. Trust, shared vision, joy, and community are at the center of our work—not just funding.

    Our Process

  • Make your own rules. Challenge traditional philanthropy by building transparent, community-centered processes rooted in trust and collaboration.

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  • Equity takes intention. Reaching historically underfunded rural and Native American communities requires ongoing capacity and commitment.

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  • Stories hold power. We prioritize storytelling that shifts narratives from trauma toward resilience, empowerment, and community leadership.

    HEAR OUR STORIES

The Waterers are disruptors of philanthropy that stemmed out of Local Control, Local Fields, an initiative of ArtPlace America, a people-powered process led by grassroots Assemblies in six geographies that shaped the use of a funding pool to further strengthen their local creative place-tending field of practice.

The Waterers are the entrusted fund stewards of the Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native Nations geographic region Assembly. Our Assembly centers Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) creatives as leaders. Our gift-making strategy attends to the nuance and complexities of this region.

By the end of 2021 we redistributed $2.76 million through three separate initiatives, funding BIPOC artists, culture bearers, and organizations across the hills, lakes, prairies, woods and 23 Native Nations, as colonized into 3 states by scores of treaties. We believe in investing in small, local, and the non-colonial. Racing Magpie is where we chose to house this work to build our capacity to collectively lead and steward this fund.

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REAL, INSIGHTFUL, INSPIRATIONAL STORIES

The Waterers Podcast hosted by Joe Williams

Tune in for conversations rooted in art, community, culture, and collective care. Hear from artists, organizers, and changemakers reimagining what it means to build sustainable, community-led futures.

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