Smithsonian's National Museum Of The American Indian Selects 2007 Native Arts Program Participants

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian announces the 2007 Native Arts Program participants. Established 10 years ago and with continued support from the Ford Foundation, the Native Arts Program selects and awards annual grants to Native artists.

Four visiting artists have been selected to conduct research in museum collections located in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Boston; one artist will conduct research at the local level through the Community Artist Fellowship; one artist will develop a Community Arts Symposium; and one artist will participate in the Youth Mural Project.

Participants were selected through a competitive application process and a review panel of international artists and arts administrators. The review panel included former program participant Silyas Saunders (Nuxalk), National Museum of the American Indian education specialist Vilma Ortiz-Sanchez, curator and artist Sarah Sense (Chitimacha/Choctaw), independent media consultant Denise Bolduc (Anishinaabe) and professor and drum maker Ramon Murillo (Shoshone-Bannock).

Visiting Artists

The Visiting Artist award recipients are Carol Douglas, Clarissa Hudson, Steve Wikviya LaRance and Adrian Wall. Carol Douglas (Northern Arapaho) is a basket maker in Washington state. She will research
"transitions" in basketry between two tribes, the Arapaho and Creek/Seminole.

Clarissa Hudson (Tlingit) is an Alaskan multimedia artist specializing in design and creation of Northwest Coast dance regalia. Her research will focus on Northwest Coast regalia with an emphasis on ceremonial robes. Steve Wikviya LaRance (Hopi) is a stone sculptor and jeweler from Arizona. He will research pre-Columbian sculpture and jewelry of the meso-American cultures and the Hopi.

Adrian Wall (Jemez Pueblo) is a stone sculptor who lives in Acoma Pueblo, N.M. He will research sculpture from around the world, including Native, Greek, Roman, Italian, and contemporary sculptural works.

Community Artist

Mona Smith (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota) is a media/video/audio installation artist from Minnesota. She will research images, audio pieces and archival movies of Dakota people at the Minnesota Historical Center in St. Paul, Minn.

2007 Community Arts Symposium

Vianor Perez (Kuna), also known by his pen name, Iguanignapi Kungiler, will develop the 2007 Community Arts Symposium. He is a writer and storyteller from Kuna Yala, Panama. The symposium will be held in the community of Aligandi, Panama, and will feature a discussion on the importance of compiling traditional knowledge. The symposium also will explore how this knowledge combined with the use of modern semantics, can reinforce and revitalize culture in formal education systems.

2007 Youth Mural Project

Joseph Ives (Port Gamble S'Klallam) is a painter and wood carver from Washington state. He will partner with the Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Wash., and the Port Gamble S'Klallam youth program to create a carved mural tentatively titled, "Honoring the Wisdom of our S'Klallam Elders."

By www.nmai.si.edu