Author: FAAM Staff

Masked Heroes: Facial Coverings by Native Artists We have received an astonishingly large number of fantastic entries from coast to coast. Judging is taking place right. Due to the overwhelming response and the editing and formating process taking longer than expected, this virtual art exhibition’s opening will be Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Apologies for the continued delay! This crisis is a time of sorrow and fear. Within this darkness is light—the generosity of artists turning their skills toward making masks for their friends and family but also for healthcare workers and other essential workers on the frontlines. This small art…

By Staci Golar Adrián Takano is a self-taught Mestizo artist who specializes in spectacular street art. Strolling around Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, where Takano lives, unsuspecting viewers are stopped in their tracks by his big, bold murals that adorn the town. The murals are a powerful mix of magical realism, Mesoamerican and Aridoamerican aesthetics, and vibrant color. Their subject matter almost always honors the strong cultural roots of Mexico via depictions of the Indigenous peoples, though other Indigenous peoples sometimes make an appearance in them, as well. Takano grew up in Mexico City and worked as a freelance illustrator there,…

By Staci Golar Beadwork first captured the imagination of Hollis Chitto (Mississippi Choctaw/Laguna and Isleta Pueblos) when he was a young child. Maynard White Owl Lavadour (Cayuse/Nez Perce), a Plateau artist revered for his beautiful, beaded creations, was a family friend and Chitto says he “fell in love” with Lavadour’s work. Not long after, Chitto taught himself how to bead by studying illustrations in a book and experimenting until he got it right. Now it is Chitto’s beadwork that is catching the attention of collectors, galleries, museums, and publications like Vogue magazine. Visually satisfying and dazzling all at the same…

By Staci Golar It’s not surprising, really, that Dawn Wallace Kulberg (Chugach Alutiiq) became a jeweler. She grew up in Santa Fe watching her parents, Denise and Samuel Wallace, create extraordinary pieces, and learned stonecutting and setting, scrimshaw, and other jewelry techniques from them along the way. Like all artists, however, Wallace Kulberg quickly made the work her own. She is a member of the Old Harbor Native Corporation but lives on the Big Island in Hawaii. Her detailed pieces reflect a delightful mix of her tropical surroundings and Chugach Alutiiq heritage. Everything from caribou and polar bears to hummingbirds…

Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock) won the 2020 Best of Show for her unique cradleboard, Common Ground: Culture Isn’t Black and White. The artist writes about her symbolism: “This is us today. All these images have significant meaning for us. When I say “us,” I mean my family and I, Never do I speak for a group of people. We are not bound to anyone’s idea of what Native art should look like.” The freedom of expression was visible throughout the incredibly diverse array of award-winners. Classification winners are as follows. Classification Winners I. Jewelry and Lapidary Best of Classification: Denise Wallace…

Azhwakwa: Contemporary Anishinaabe Art The Anishinaabeg are one of the largest collective groups of Indigenous peoples north of the Rio Grande. They include the Three Fire Council—the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi—and the Oji-Cree and Algonquin peoples. Their homelands are centered on the Great Lakes of Canada and the United States, and now with communities as far away as Montana and Oklahoma. and they speak related Algonquian languages. The United States federal government forcibly removed several Anishinaabeg groups far from their homelands. On this journey, often referred to as the Trail of Death, Potawatomi and Ottawa communities were established leading to…

The Hood Museum of Art Brings Contemporary Native Ceramics to Dartmouth’s Campus Hanover, NH—Form and Relation: Contemporary Native Ceramics examines the work of six artists whose practices are grounded in our relations to the land and to one another. All were chosen because of the complexity of their themes—such as community, identity, gender, land, extraction, language, and responsibility—and techniques. Anita Fields (Osage/Muscogee), Courtney M. Leonard (Shinnecock), Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota), Ruben Olguin (Mestizo), Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara descent), and Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara Tewa) are leading conversations not only within the field of Native American ceramics but also within…

By America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) The terms traditional and contemporary are as common as nitrogen and oxygen at Native art events, yet these words don’t advance thoughtful discourse about Indigenous art. Rather, they cripple it. Separately, they can be misused, vague, or trite, but when paired together in a false dichotomy, they are insidious. The contemporary era is our current era in art. If we want to advocate for Indigenous arts’ place in the global art world, we have to speak the art world’s language. Contemporary art follows modern art, [1] and—depending on your perspective—begins in 1989 with the fall…

Dreamwork, From Here to There: The Photography of Gracelynn Growingthunder New photography by Gracelynn Growingthunder (Nakoda/Kiowa) will be on view in an art show curated by Georgeanne Growingthunder (Nakoda/Kiowa). What: Opening reception + launch party When: Monday, January 6, 2020, 6:00–8:00 pm Where: Lobby Café and Bar, 4322 N Western Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73118 Georgeanne Growing, aged 8, makes her curatorial debut with this month-long solo exhibition of digital photography by her sister Gracelynn Growingthunder, aged 10. Landscape and architectural photography predominate Gracelynn’s oeuvre; however, she also shoots group shots, particularly of historic gatherings, such as the Kiowa Gourd…

The politics of the last year have been volatile, particularly for Indigenous peoples of Brazil, Colombia, and Bolivia. It is profoundly important that those of us with media platforms use our voices to advocate for fellow Indigenous peoples of the Americas, both to provide hope for the future when the darkness can seem overwhelming and to embody and share Indigenous worldviews for future generations. The arts are one platform where Native people can communicate our perspectives with each other and the greater world at large. Indigenous artists shared their visions of sustainability and resilience throughout 2019, and below are ten…