United States Artists is thrilled to announce that Lori Lea Pourier (Oglala Lakota), is this year's Berresford Prize recipient. Lori Lea Pourier is a long-standing arts leader who has made an enduring impact on the cultural preservation, advocacy, and artistic possibilities of Indigenous Arts ecologies across the nation. From her early career at the First Nations Development Institute and the International Indigenous Women’s Network, to her founding of the First Peoples Fund, where she is now Senior Fellow, Pourier has created a legacy of supporting and advocating for the work of Native artists and arts communities for nearly thirty years.

The Berresford Prize is an unrestricted $50,000 award given annually to a cultural organizer who has contributed significantly to the advancement, well-being, and care of artists in society. Named after our co-founder Susan V. Berresford, the award highlights practitioners who have dedicated their careers to building platforms and creating conditions for artists to thrive. This award acknowledges the remarkable curators, administrators, scholars, and producers who catalyze our cultural landscape — reinforcing USA’s commitment to supporting a robust and thriving arts ecosystem. Berresford Prize nominees are individuals who embody the following qualities:

• Visionary: They see beyond the status quo and imagine new possibilities for connecting artists and publics.

• Condition-maker: They have developed methods of working that contribute to an environment that supports and empowers artists.

• Game-changer: They have changed the landscape for artists and pushed the field forward as a result.

• Active Commitment: They have both a long history of and an active practice of working with and for artists.

While nominations for the prize are made by USA Fellows from the concurrent year, it is a panel of peers that makes a final recommendation. The panelists this year were Kristy Edmunds (Director of MASS MoCA, USA Trustee and 2019 Berresford awardee), Rosalba Rolón (Founding Director and Artistic Director of Pregones Theater, USA Trustee and 2008 Fellow), and yuniya edi kwon (2019 USA Fellow in Music).

Commendations for Pourier came from many, including Dyani White Hawk, Theresa Secord, and Marty Two Bulls Jr.

From Dyani White Hawk, 2019 USA Fellow:

Lori is so deserving of this honor. I am so happy to see her receive this recognition for the many years of ground up work she has done to support an immeasurable amount of Native artists and communities. She has nurtured an ecosystem of support for some of the most underrepresented artists and communities in our nation. Her work has helped many artists like myself through creating a network, an extended arts family and a foundation of support for personal, career, and leadership development. Lori’s leadership has demonstrated what values-based work in the arts can look like, achieve, and model for future generations. She leads with kindness, love, an enduring commitment to her community, and a knowledge of the ways that positive impact within one’s own community affects positive impact globally. I am proud of her, proud to call her a mentor, and honored to call her a friend. Wopila tanka Lori for all you have done for so many of us! And, wopila tanka United States Artists for honoring Lori and modeling the kind of leadership that deserves celebration and support.

From Theresa Secord, 2025 USA Fellow: 

I can think of no one more worthy of the Berresford Prize. For three decades, Lori has strategically and methodically changed the landscape of recognition, economic development, and cultural cultivation for artists of Native North America. This is sacred work for culture bearers and next generation artists; replicated by others yet Lori was the first to envision the possibilities and support network we see for Indigenous artists today.

From Marty Two Bulls Jr., 2022 USA Fellow:

Lori Pourier is a fierce champion for the arts in my community. The doors she has opened, and the support she has provided, have made a major impact on my own art career. She inspires me to think big and work generously. Wopila tanka Lori, for all you do.