WALKER YOUNGBIRD FOUNDATION AND LITE BRITE NEON STUDIO LAUNCH NATIVE NEON RESIDENCY FOR INDIGENOUS ARTISTS

A $50,000 artist residency expanding Indigenous access to one of contemporary art's most technically demanding media

NEW YORK, March 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Walker Youngbird Foundation, a Native-led nonprofit supporting Indigenous artists, has partnered with Lite Brite Neon Studio to launch Native Neon, a $50,000 residency designed to expand Indigenous access to neon fabrication—one of the most technically demanding and infrastructure-heavy mediums in contemporary art.

Neon is synonymous with public presence: architectural scale, electrical light, and visual permanence. But working in neon requires specialized equipment, glass-bending expertise, high-voltage systems, and fabrication infrastructure that most individual artists cannot access independently. Few artist residencies underwrite full neon fabrication, leaving the medium largely limited to institutional commissions or established studios.

Native Neon exists to change that.

The annual residency will support one Indigenous artist working in any discipline who has not previously worked in neon. The selected artist will receive a $10,000 stipend and participate in a 7–10 day immersive residency at Lite Brite Neon Studio in Kingston, New York, where they will develop and produce an original neon work with full fabrication support.

"Entire media remain closed to artists for creative exploration, simply because the tools and training are expensive and specialized," said Reid Walker, Founder of the Walker Youngbird Foundation. "Native Neon changes that by giving Indigenous artists full access to neon fabrication from concept to completion."

Structured as a teaching residency rather than an apprenticeship, the program embeds the artist within Lite Brite's professional fabrication environment. Working alongside skilled craftspeople, the artist will gain exposure to glass bending, gas and color composition, electrical systems, installation methods, and long-term stewardship of neon works. The completed artwork will remain the property of the artist, who will retain full intellectual property rights.

The residency will culminate in a finished neon work, professional photographic and film documentation of the process, and a public presentation in Fall 2026.

"Neon art allows energy to become visible," said matteline deVries-dilling, Founder of Lite Brite Neon Studio, known for collaborations with artists including Marie Watt, Glenn Ligon, and EJ Hill. "The medium is delicate and fierce at once. We are honored to help steward this access in partnership with Walker Youngbird Foundation and with the guidance of Marie Watt."

Artist Marie Watt (Seneca Nation) will serve as Primary Advisor, helping guide artist selection and the program's long-term vision. Watt's interdisciplinary practice spans textiles, sculpture, and printmaking, and has been exhibited at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

"For me, neon is an extension of beadwork. The glass itself is at once a thread and bead. Like beadwork and textile work, neon is part of a long craft tradition," said Watt. "In an odd way both beads and neon have a relationship to trade; beads historically as currency, and neon as a sign to advertise a business. I am drawn to how both beads and neon have dazzling relationships with light, reflected and refracted. While neon has a history of expressively adorning buildings, beads have a strong history of expressively adorning bodies as regalia (clothing, accessories, jewelry)."

Applications for Native Neon open March 5, 2026. The selected artist will be announced in May 2026, with the residency taking place September–October 2026.

The program is open to Indigenous artists 18 and older residing in North America, including enrolled members of federally or state-recognized U.S. tribes, Alaska Native corporations, individuals of Native Hawaiian ancestry, and members of recognized First Nations in Canada.

For more information:
walkeryoungbird.org
litebriteneon.com 

About The Walker Youngbird Foundation
Founded in 2024, The Walker Youngbird Foundation is a Native-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to supporting emerging Indigenous artists across North America, championing visionary creators who are reshaping cultural narratives through contemporary expression. The foundation's work includes grants and fellowships programs, storytelling initiatives that amplify Native voices, support for exhibitions and public programs bridging traditional and contemporary practices, and strategic partnerships with institutions committed to ethical engagement.

To learn more, please visit https://walkeryoungbird.org/.

About Lite Brite Neon Studio
For over 25 years, Lite Brite Neon Studio has been the leading artist collective responsible for the production of hundreds of public and private neon, and luminous works of art displayed worldwide. By illuminating the voices, stories, and ideas of artists within the broad queer, transfeminist umbrella — including Lola Flash, Demian DinéYazhi', LJ Roberts, Marie Watt, EJ Hill, and Glenn Ligon — they offer a vision of a world in the process of becoming. These transformational works light public and private spaces, uplift conversations around who we are, and serve as beacons of hope, transformation, and reconciliation, expanding the possibilities of art in service to the world.

For its first two decades, Lite Brite Neon was sustained primarily through for-profit neon production and funded fabrication projects. In response to a shifting world, the studio has developed a new working model. With support from its nonprofit partner Queer|Art and donations from generous benefactors, Lite Brite Neon has deepened collaborations with artists reshaping the cultural center and reimagining our shared future. This model seeks to restore reciprocal relationships to the heart of the creation process and create space for more artists to lead, innovate, and dream luminous futures shaped by the lineages of care that carry them.

Media Contact:
Sheila Smith
[email protected]
203.917.8644

SOURCE Walker Youngbird Foundation