First American Art Magazine

“It is from this past that I was able to understand many things that are part of my identity and how life develops in a community that has a genetic and historical memory that goes back thousands of years. The earth is where I was born, I belong to the earth. It is part of my identity. How it influences me, well, it’s something so inherent in me that I do not consciously notice what it does or does not do.” – Gabriela Morac, Zapoteca printmaker and painter in FAAM No. 44, Fall 2024

Lisa LaRue-Baker (Cherokee Nation) reviews "Native Fashion" at the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas, for our FAAM. The exhibition will be up until January 5, 2025. Find the full review in our Fall 2024 issue. Pictured: Patricia Michaels (Taos), PM Waterlily, "Antlers in Aspen Meadows," 2019, couture dress. Photo: Joshua Tso (Diné). Image courtesy of the artist and Spencer Museum of Art.

Denver, CO — CherryArts Emerging Artist Program. Deadline to apply: December 1, 2024 $5,000 Grant opportunity for the Emerging Artist Program This program is designed specifically for artists who are beginning their career with little experience exhibiting and selling their artwork at any venue. The application procedure and fee are the same as the regular show however, upon acceptance, emerging artists will pay a lower booth fee $350, have a tent provided and includes workshop, artist mentoring, support for lodging and will sell and showcase their work at the 2025 Cherry Creek Arts Festival. https://lnkd.in/gK9Y_hyT #artists #emergingartists #artistgrants #artistopportunities #cherrycreek #cherrycreekdenver #CherryCreekArts #denverartist #coloradoartist

Read about the life and work of painter Linda Infante Lyons (Alutiiq) in our latest issue, out now. You'll find her work on the cover of our Fall 2024 issue, as well! Pictured: Linda Infante Lyons (Alutiiq), "Bear’s Blessing," 2019, oil on panel, 30 × 30 in., private collection.

Lester Harragarra (Otoe-Missouria/Kiowa Photographer), "Old Warriors Meet," ca. 1997, black-and-white photograph, 20 × 28 in. framed. Photograph of Dixon Palmer (Kiowa, 1920–2011), standing, and Leonard Cozad Sr. (Kiowa, 1916–2005) at the annual Black Leggings ceremonial. Both were WWII combat veterans. Check out our latest issue to learn how Harragarra's vibrant photographs are transforming the way Native American culture is viewed.

"Born in 1969 in Muscogee, Oklahoma, Daniel HorseChief was raised by his mother, the painter and educator Mary Adair (Cherokee Nation), after his father Samuel HorseChief (Pawnee, 1936–1975) passed away at an early age. Daniel HorseChief ’s interest in fine art led him to Bacone College, where he studied under artist Ruthe Blalock Jones (Shawnee/Delaware/Peoria), and later to the Institute of American Indian Arts and Northeastern State University. "A naturalist painter interested in transcultural subject matter, his work has engaged a breadth of historical figures and events such as Captain Shoe Boots, the Trail of Tears, and the Battle of the Greasy Grass. His paintings have earned many awards including the Best of Show at the 2018 Cherokee National Holiday Art Show (CNHAS), Best of Classification (two-dimensional) at the 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market, and, most recently, Best in Show, Chief ’s Choice, and Judge’s Choice at the 2024 CNHAS. "While he is well-known for his paintings, HorseChief has also received several commissions for bronze public sculptural installations. In 2009, he unveiled a nine-and-a-half-foot bronze sculpture dedicated to Sequoyah, the revered originator of the Cherokee syllabary, at Northeastern State University. Several years later, in 2021, he installed a nearly thirteen-foot-high bronze monument of a lighthorseman at the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas. This monument honors the collaboration between tribal law enforcement and the U.S. Marshal Service in the 19th century. Currently, he is working on a monument for the Cherokee Nation to address the events surrounding the Trail of Tears and its aftermaths." Read our complete artist profile on Cherokee Nation/Pawnee painter and sculptor Daniel HorseChief in FAAM's Fall 2024 issue, out now.

Gabriela Morac (Zapoteca), "Don nan yuu, ne lo yuu ibi’n (De tierra somos y a la tierra volveremos / We are of the earth and to earth we will return)," 2023, watercolor on paper. “The creation of the human being was conceived in many ways by the cultures of Anáhuac and all over the world; however, they all agreed that the human being was part of a whole. “Today science confirms that we are composed of more than 90 percent stardust.… “The only certainty is that when we die, we will be returned to the earth, becoming part of it no matter what. In the end, we will become part of the whole again.” —Gabriela Morac Read more about Morac and her work in our Fall 2024 issue, out now (and always available for purchase on our site).

"Poolaw had a sense of humor. During World War II he made a series of images depicting himself in military uniform with a Plains headdress while training bomber crews in Florida. He deliberately wanted to show that while he was a member of the U.S. military, he was also still Kiowa. The wearing of the headdress was both serious and humorous, saying his culture persevered and that his people were now training the same military that had sought to exterminate the Kiowa." – excerpt from "The Impact of American Indian Black & White Photography" by Matt Jarvis (Osage) in our Fall 2024 issue. Pictured: Horace Poolaw (Kiowa, 1906–1984), "Self-Portrait with Gus Palmer," ca. 1944, photograph. Image courtesy of the Estate of Horace Poolaw. The two men posed with their B-17 Flying Fortress at MacDill Field, Florida.

Tulsa, OK – Presented by Four Mothers Collective, Positive Space Tulsa is hosting?"Ripple in Traditions"?from November 7 to 23, 2024. https://lnkd.in/gqX7KJFq #IndigenousArt #NativeArt #NativeAmericanArt #AmericanIndianArt #Cherokee #Muscogee #Mvskoke #Tulsa #OklahomaArt #NativeWomen #WomenArtists

Our latest issue includes an exhibition review for "Native Fashion" at the Spencer Museum of Art. "The team started working on the exhibition design in 2022, and one of the first tasks was to identify the themes that would be addressed. Representation, Resilience, Resistance, and Relations, while separated into sections throughout the exhibition, can all be considered throughout the show. For example, the resilience of Indigenous people to use what materials are available is shown through pieces from different eras in the Resilience section but also throughout the four sections." Pick up the Fall 2024 issue to read more from Lisa LaRue-Baker (Cherokee Nation). Pictured: Installation view of Native Fashion with dresses by Jontay Kahm (Plains Cree), Patricia Michaels (Taos), and Sage Mountainflower (Ohkay Owingeh/Taos/Diné). Photo: Ryan Waggoner, Spencer Museum of Art. Image courtesy of the Spencer Museum of Art.