Honor the Earth is excited to announce the grand prize winners of our inaugural artist competition.
Last year, we invited Indigenous and Black artists across the globe to help us envision a Sovereign Indigenous Future — a future beyond colonization, genocide, imperialism, prisons, white supremacy, ableism and all the other modern systemic oppressions.
Meet the Artists
Daisy Demapan
Daisy Demapan, a Chamorro artist from Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, submitted a poem titled “They Call Us, Simiyan Inina”
Gavin Kendo
Gavin Kendo, a Black artist from Nairobi, Kenya, submitted a series of vibrant paintings depicting a decolonized future.
Nukte' Lainez
Nukte' Lainez, a two spirit Lepa Wiran/Lenca from Portland, Oregon, submitted a collection of drawings in pen on paper.
Artist Statements
Daisy Demapan
Gavin Kondo
“My work imagines a decolonized future by choosing freedom over inherited trauma. I create scenes where people and animals are one with lush green foliage, symbolizing a deep and unbroken connection with Mother Earth. In these imagined landscapes, I see a world unshackled from the colonial legacies that continue to shape how we value ourselves and our time.
My grandfather fought for the British during the Second World War. While his service was framed as loyalty, what followed was a lasting psychological weight that my family and many Kenyan families continue to carry. Colonialism not only stripped away land and culture, but also imposed a toxic mentality that worth could only be measured through labor that served external systems. Generations later, I feel this pressure acutely. As a young adult navigating a fast-paced society, I have been told, directly and indirectly, that rest is laziness, and that creative work is indulgence unless it is converted into a “proper job.” This way of thinking is a remnant of British ideals of productivity that still dominate our communities.
My art rebels against this toxic inheritance. By turning to bright, contrasting colors, I reject narratives of struggle and scarcity, and instead envision peace, vibrancy, and abundance. By depicting humans and animals merging with nature, I challenge the colonial separation between “civilization” and the natural world. These works do not seek validation from systems that devalue creativity; rather, they insist that imagination, rest, and harmony are radical acts of resistance.
For me, creating art is both deeply personal and political. It is a way of reclaiming space for joy and invention, where existence is not reduced to labor or survival. It is about healing the wounds of generational trauma by refusing to repeat the scripts handed down through colonization. Each piece becomes a declaration that we can imagine otherwise, that we can shape futures where rest is sacred, creativity is essential, and our relationship with the earth is not extractive but reciprocal.
Through these imagined worlds, I explore what it means to be whole again. My work envisions decolonization not as a return to the past, but as a radical reimagining of the present and the future, where freedom, peace, and unity can take root and flourish.”
Nukte' Lainez
“My name is Nukte' and I am a two spirit lepa wiran/lenca 25 year old, my artwork centers around my lived experience, loved ones and dreams. Being a mmip survivor who was kidnapped and trafficked as a homeless 16-17 year old art is my way of coping and moving through colonial trauma into healing. My art envisions a future free of ableism, transphobia and stigma, going back into tradition of honoring and caring for our people instead of discarding them due to colonial influence, honoring the most sacred among us.”
Invest in Radical Artists!
Join us in working to end the extractive colonial economy that devalues and commodifies Indigenous and Black art, only rewarding art that is detached from our ways and our struggles to reach success.
Our communities continue to define the pathway of resistance, generation after generation. In this moment where we are purposefully being overwhelmed, we can collectively continue to define the pathway toward a Sovereign Indigenous Future with intention.
This competition is just the first of its kind. We are excited for the next iteration of this program to be announced later this year.
Would you consider making a gift to help us continue to invest in radical artists?
As a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible.
— Toni Cade Bambara
Honor the Earth is creating a world where Indigenous Sovereignty is recognized, respected, and upheld. We envision a future where communities thrive with honor, abundance, and in right relationship with Mother Earth. We do this in three ways: Organizing the movement around the needs of the People and Mother Earth; investing in Indigenous leadership, self-determination, frontline struggle, healing, and the next generation; and protecting the land, the people, and all that we hold sacred. This is how we are building a future that is anti-imperialist, decolonial, de-militarized, disabled-inclusive, gender-inclusive, anti-racist, and abolitionist.
We know it’s always been easier to name the many broken systems in our world than it is to offer up viable alternatives. Yet, visionary organizing is both possible and absolutely critical to the decolonization movement.
This is where Artists come in.
As a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible.
— Toni Cade Bambara
We’re collecting digital submissions of original artworks across various media that respond to this prompt: what does a sovereign Indigenous future look like?
We’re inviting Indigenous and Black artists across the globe to help us envision a sovereign Indigenous future — a future that has grown beyond colonization, genocide, imperialism, prisons, white supremacy, ableism and all the other modern systemic oppressions.
Winners will receive a cash prize of $2,000-$3,500.
Grace Lee Boggs
“Every crisis, actual or impending, needs to be viewed as an opportunity to bring about profound changes in our society. Going beyond protest organizing, visionary organizing begins by creating images and stories of the future that help us imagine and create alternatives to the existing system.”
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Indigenous and Black Peoples have long upheld the importance of art as an integral part of maintaining our values, cultures, lifeways, and Sovereignty. Settler colonialism has worked hard to eradicate and exploit our art forms through genocide and commercialization because they understood how powerful our art can be.
Because of this, we intend to uplift the role of Indigenous and Black Artists in the movement to protect the Land. We believe that artists can lead us toward a decolonized future by depicting what exactly we are moving towards. As organizers, it’s our role to identify and resist extractivism and false solutions to climate change. Artists are vital to identifying what comes next in the transition.
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Successful submissions will consider the following:
The end of extractivism
Land return and full sovereignty of Indigenous and Black Peoples
Decolonized social infrastructure in the following areas: education, healthcare, energy, food, housing, transportation, medicine, childcare, safety, culture/language revitalization, or labor
Building kinship among relatives
Right relationship with Mother Earth
Traditional art forms and media
Gender justice, anti-racism, anti-ableism, anti-colonialism, and abolition
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Submissions are due on October 10, 2025.
Artists can be located anywhere in the world. Preference will be given to Indigenous and Black artists.
Winners will be selected and announced in early November.
We will accept the following types of media: digital art, drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, photography, poetry, film. But we are only accepting digital submissions — so if creating an oil painting, please only send us a high-resolution image of the painting.
We will be accepting original work only. No AI. The work must have been created within the last year and cannot have already won another submission contest or have been a commissioned piece.
Artists need to submit a short statement (up to 500 words) or a short video (up to 2 minutes) accompanying their piece that should explain how their artwork envisions a decolonized future, reflects their own experience, and/or details decolonization in their own community. Again, AI cannot be used to generate your statements or videos.
Artists who submit their work will also be considered for ongoing projects with Honor the Earth.
By submitting work, artists may allow HTE to share the pieces as part of a larger showcase, not intended to highlight specific pieces but the art program as a whole — for example, a montage video of all art submissions, or a digital mural of the submissions. This is completely optional and will not impact your chances of winning.
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Winners will receive a cash prize of $2,000-$3,500. We will select up to five (5) winners.
By agreeing to be a selected winner of this contest, artists grant HTE a non-exclusive license to use their art for communication, development, and commercial purposes. HTE will not “own” the work - the artist still maintains full ownership rights, but HTE will have the artist’s express permission to share the artist’s work in ways that align with HTE’s mission and vision. HTE will always credit the artist when sharing work.
Those not selected for a prize will be entered into a raffle with the potential to win $250 in cash. Up to ten (10) raffle winners will be selected.
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You can apply using the form here: bit.ly/RadicalArt
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Reach out to us at info@honorearth.org and someone will get back to you ASAP!
