Professor Larry Raigetal was checking emails on his phone while lying in his hammock at the Piti canoe house after teaching one of his university Micronesian seafaring classes earlier this year. One of those emails was an invitation to apply for the new Pacific Jurisdictions Artist Fund, offering grants of up to $6,000 to artists and culture bearers in the region. 

He thought, “I'll just fill it out on my cell phone. So I did it.” In his application, he said he would use the funds to build an additional structure to the canoe house, dedicated to teaching traditionally female-led activities, such as weaving and food preparation. These skills are “equally, if not more important” to the seafaring culture, he said in an interview. 

“For us here in Micronesia, we know that seafaring culture is a whole lot more comprehensive than just” navigating and canoe building, he said. “How else is that navigator and the canoe cover going to go if they don't have the women to weave their sail or to prepare for the voyage provisions, right?” 

He didn’t think he’d get a response, much less the grant, but was awarded $2,400 — not enough to build an additional structure but enough for an expansion of the existing canoe house. “I didn't have the least expectation that I was going to get (any)  funding for it, but the fact that I did highlighted the significance and importance of carrying on the work that I'm charged to do,” he said. 

The master navigator was one of 15 Guam awardees for the inaugural Pacific Jurisdictions Artist Fund, which also awarded grants to 15 artists from the Northern Marianas and 15 in American Samoa. 

The initiative was launched earlier this year by Creative West, formerly known as WESTAF, a nonprofit that serves as a regranting program for the National Endowment for the Arts and other organizations. 

Creative West first connected with the Pacific Jurisdictions during the pandemic to regrant federal funds to the CNMI, an experience that highlighted a critical need, according to Anika Tené, director of grants, awards and programs at Creative West. 

"The way our programs were designed did not necessarily have the Pacific jurisdictions in mind, and so we really needed to look at how we could bring more equitable access to resources," she said. To address this gap, Creative West chose to model a program specifically for the Pacific, making it trust-based and unrestricted — meaning artists could use the money to meet personal or community needs, rather than funding a specific project.

The program was built on a "For Us, By Us" principle, co-designed by Creative West partners and former awardees from the region, including Humanities Guåhan Executive Director CJ Ochoco and CAHA  Board Chair Monica Guzman. Sandy Flores Moylan serves as Creative West’s manager for the Pacific Jurisdictions.

The application focused not on artistic merit, but on articulation: "It was all about who you are, your identity, how you show up in the world, and in many ways, I think, that was an emotional question for a lot of people, simply because it was really sharing your lineage, your history, your family, you know who you are," Anika said.

The enthusiasm for the new fund was overwhelming. Creative West received 250 applications across the three jurisdictions — over 100 of them from Guam. This high volume ultimately led the organization to stretch the funds so they could issue grants to 15 awardees on each island.

The review process was as unique as the fund's design. Reviewers were from the Pacific jurisdictions but reviewed applications from other islands to avoid conflicts of interest.

“There was a lot of cultural exchange even in that process,” Anika said. “Because it was learning, ‘Oh, this is very similar to what we do on our island,’ or, ‘That's really different than what we do on our island.’”

Educational exchanges are what Guam artist and entrepreneur Michelle Pier plans to fund with her about $2,000 award. 

She encountered the PJAF application while opening her second studio, Creative Indeed, at the Acanta Mall in Tumon. Despite feeling she didn't have time to write an application, she was drawn by the fund's unconventional structure. She attended the workshop, where some prospective applicants struggled to comprehend that the fund was unrestricted and they wouldn't need to keep receipts for a specific project.

"I got that right away, where I was like … you're basically making an emotional, psychological pitch as far as why you would be a good steward of this money," Michelle said. Her application focused on her heritage, drawing inspiration from figures such as her great-grandmother (educator and civic leader Agueda Johnston) and her parents, who built businesses rooted in their passions while helping their community. 

She plans to use her award to travel, primarily to New York City, and visit art institutions, museums and galleries. "My primary goal is to visit as many galleries and institutions as possible, but with a direct focus of actually meeting key people who organize funding and stuff for their local communities," she said. This knowledge, she hopes, will lay the foundation for her dream of establishing a Creative Resource Center on Guam.

For Larry, his work is an urgent counterpoint to the forces of Westernization, carrying core values that formal education often misses. These values include respecting the land and recognizing the concept of the “standing canoe” — that trees should be planted by every generation as a commitment to future canoe carvers and traditional wayfinders.

For Michelle, the grant reinforces her mission to teach artists how to make a living from their passion. "I want to show people how to do that, and how to get the resources to be able to do that," she said.

For Creative West, success extends beyond the initial grant distribution. “We don't see these opportunities as just transactional,” Anika said, noting that success is measured by the long-term relationship building and subsequent resources that will be shared over the next six to 12 months.

The PJAF is scheduled to continue for the next two years, committed to supporting residents of Guam, Northern Marianas and American Samoa who are fundamentally rooted in their heritage. As Larry believes, the world is finally recognizing the value of this enduring knowledge: “The world is waking up to something that our islands have always known all along. Maybe it’s time for us to teach the world something.”

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