Funding the next generation of Native and Indigenous silversmiths — tuition, tools, materials, transportation, and lodging.
Keeping Indigenous Traditions Alive. Funding the next generation of Native and Indigenous silversmiths.
The KITA Scholarship — in partnership with CNM's Bench Jewelry program and the Fuse Makerspace — funds Indigenous students learning silversmithing, dance, and the broader traditional arts of the Southwest. KITA covers school tuition, tools, materials, transportation, and lodging — the things scholarships often forget.
Native students often face what seem like insurmountable obstacles in furthering their education. KITA fills the gaps that conventional aid leaves open, allowing students to finish their classes and develop their craft.
The 2025 recipient was Karolina Chapo, a Navajo dancer preserving Diné traditions through movement.
KITA is open to Native and Indigenous students enrolled in CNM's Bench Jewelry program or Fuse Makerspace workshops who are pursuing traditional arts of the Southwest — silversmithing, dance, weaving, and related crafts. There is no income threshold, but priority is given to students who demonstrate both financial need and cultural commitment.
Applications are reviewed once per cycle. Award amounts cover demonstrated costs — tuition, tools, and transportation — rather than a fixed dollar figure. Scholars receive mentorship from working artists at the Co-Op alongside funding.
Apply to the KITA Program →The KITA Scholarship is funded through public donations and a portion of T.Skies' Signature Collection sales. The Co-Op is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit — every dollar donated is tax-deductible and goes directly to scholars. There is no administrative overhead markup on scholarship disbursements.
The KITA Scholarship exists because every cycle I watched talented students drop out not from lack of skill but lack of bus fare. That's a solvable problem. So we solved it.
— Mateo