SAR is proud to present Rocking the Boat: Innovation as Tradition, a four-part speaker series highlighting the Indian Arts Research Center’s former Native artist fellows and extended community (April 3, 2019 – April 24, 2019). Artists in this year’s programs explore how honoring tradition requires the capacity to preserve the old, and the ability to innovate and integrate new creativity.
How does a self-proclaimed perfectionist navigate the often messy process of making art? Northern Cheyenne printmaker and painter Jordan Craig tells us that even when the creative journey is difficult, a work’s flaws may become integral to the artist’s achievements. Explore her artistic perspective and learn about the work she produced as SAR’s 2018 Eric and Barbara Dobkin Native Artist Fellow.
Earlier this month, the American Anthropological Association hosted the 117th annual meeting in San Jose, California. For many, the gathering is a five-day whirlwind of presentations, panels, committee meetings, awards, and social gatherings. Among the 6,000 anthropologists and related professionals in attendance, there were hundreds of SAR alumni.
With both Native Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry, Maile Andrade comes from a family of people who used their hands: her mother was a painter and a composer, her father a boat builder. “I think being an artist is something that is a gift,” she says. Explore her artistic perspective and hear about the work she produced as SAR’s 2012 Eric and Barbara Dobkin Native Artist Fellow.
The base for Gerry Quotskuyva’s Gnarly Root Project is a four-foot section of raw cottonwood root that sat in his garage drying for over a decade. Large-form sculptures are new to the Sedona, AZ, artist who was featured recently in an Albuquerque Journal article.
On a recent Sunday afternoon at the Indian Arts Research Center, Pueblo weavers Aric Chopito (Zuni Pueblo) and Louie Garcia (Prio Manso Tiwa tribe of Guadalupe Pueblo) and embroiderer Isabel Gonzales (Jemez Pueblo) came together with director Brian Vallo for a guided tour of the collections. The tour followed a panel discussion with the participants for SAR members and the public about the history and revitalization of the Pueblo weaving tradition, as well as the physical, financial, and cultural struggles that these artists continue to face.
