With the development of the NALAC Fund for the Arts, NALAC continues to strengthen the vitality of the Latino arts field through direct financial support.

The NALAC Fund for the Arts was planned over several years in direct response to what the Latino arts field identified as its most critical need.  In July 2004, with the support of the Ford Foundation, NALAC convened a Latino Arts Summit to engage the field in a focused dialogue concerning the scope and focus of the NALAC Fund for the Arts.  The Latino Arts Summit participants shared their perspectives, ideas and insights which were instrumental in the creation of this grant program.   

The NFA was officially launched as a two-year pilot program in March 2005. In the past five years the NFA has provided 187 grants totaling more than $523,000 to Latino artists, ensembles and small and mid-size Latino arts and culture organizationsworking in diverse disciplines across the country.

The NALAC Fund for the Arts is the first step toward establishing a permanent fund to support artistic innovation and incubate a mechanism for self determination and empowerment. NALAC is establishing a national advisory board to help create an endowment for the NALAC Fund for the Arts. 

NALAC thanks the following individuals and their organizational affiliations at the time, who participated in the 2004 Latino Arts Summit and provided their ideas and insight to help structure the NALAC Fund for the Arts: