IAIA will be holding its annual Open House on Friday, November 13, 2015, from 2-6 pm. The entire campus and all departments will be involved in this event ----showcasing the school for the Santa Fe community. The event will include campus tours, performances by the Performing Arts Department, readings by the Creative Writing Department, Archery and Stickball demonstrations, a presentation at the Digital Dome, Studio tours, Printmaking and Fabrication Lab demonstrations, art exhibitions, a Student Art Sale, and more ----culminating in a rare bronze pour at the Houser Foundry. The event is free and open to the public. Invite your friends and family!

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On Wednesday, October 28, 2015, IAIA presented Food Day ----a celebration of food ----from 11 am-4 pm on the IAIA Campus.

Food Day events included a "Food is Art" show, educational tables, greenhouse and garden tours, and pumpkin carving and decorating.

Food Day is a National Event, developed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Food Day events bring people together to celebrate and enjoy food. They encourage people to make healthy changes in their diets and to increase awareness of food-related problems in local communities, such as hunger, nutrition, agriculture policy, animal welfare, and farm worker justice with the ultimate goals of improving food policies and building a stronger, more united movement for real food.

Attendees learned how to grow food from Santa Fe Master Gardeners, how to preserve food from ICan and the New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service, and enjoyed numerous educational displays.

The IAIA Library set up a table of cookbooks and web links. The Bon Appétit Café provided a wonderful lunch and offered cooking demonstrations. Other participating organizations included Cooking with Kids, Santa Ana Mills, and many more!

The IAIA Center for Lifelong Education hosted continuing education workshops including: Food as Medicine, with demonstrations by IAIA Distance Education Director Stephen Fadden (Saint Regis Mohawk), and NMSU Extension Specialist Stephanie Walker.

There were prizes and raffles, along with a free community lunch and art show. Prizes were awarded, including gift cards to Natural Grocer, Sprouts, Lowe's, WalMart, The Ranch House, Plaza Café, and more!

Food Day also featured a very special performance and Continuing Education workshop in Traditional Agriculture by actor, writer, activist, and Grammy award-winning musician Robert Mirabal (Taos Pubelo).

Participating organizations included: Bon Appétit, ICAN, Grow Y'Own, Santa Ana Mills, Cooking with Kids, NMSU Santa Fe Cooperative Extension, Santa Fe Master Gardeners, GMP and Puerto Rico Agriculture (with Joanne Morales), IAIA Land Grant Programs, Deborah Madison

The 2015 IAIA Senior Graduating Exhibition opens Friday, November 20, 2015, and runs through Tuesday, December 8, 2015, in the Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery in the Academic Building. This exhibition is free and open to the public.

The opening reception for the exhibition takes place Friday, November 20, 2015, from 5 pm through 7 pm. Refreshments will be provided.

The Senior Graduating Exhibition showcases the final projects of studio arts and museum studies seniors. In their graduating semester, the seniors develop and finalize their exhibitions and work closely with advisors, gallery and museum studies staff, faculty, and students to realize their artistic visions.

Seniors included in this fall's exhibition include George Alexander (Muscogee Creek), Melissa Shaginoff (Chickaloon Village/Pyramid Lake), Tazbah Gaussoin (Picuris Pueblo/Navajo), and Natasha Martinez (Navajo).

The IAIA Musuem of Contemporary Native Arts hosted a reception for Dartmouth Alumni on Thursday, October 8, 2015. Dartmouth Native American department chair N. Bruce Duthu (United Houma Nation) was the sponsor of the event. He is at IAIA with nine of his students for this semester, initiating a program focusing on Native American Art and tribal law and government. Many local Dartmouth alumni attended the event along with numerous Santa Fe VIPs and IAIA Museum staff and school faculty.

Photographs by Terrance Clifford

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) presents monthly readings by noted IAIA students and Alumni in the IAIA Library at 4 pm, taking place on September 22, October 13, November 17, and December 1, 2015 in the Library and Technology Center.

The first reading was held on September 22, 2015, and featured Crisosto Apache (Mescalero Apache) and Ellen J. Shabshai Fox.

The second reading, on October 13, was presented by Barbara Robidoux (Eastern Tsalagi Cherokee) and Collestipher Dodge Chatto (Diné).

The reading on November 17, will showcase Helga Schimkat, who has lived in Santa Fe for twenty-two years but hails from Long Island and New York City.

The final reading on December 1 will include Ruby Hansen Murray (Osage Nation), Terese Marie Mailhot (Seabird Island Band), and Ramona Emerson (Navajo). Come out and enjoy the remaining reading from this very talented group of students.

MFA Library Readings are free and open to the public.

On Tuesday, October 20, 2015, IAIA hosted a screening of the landmark documentary The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking The Domination Code in the IAIA Auditorium.

Presented by IAIA Alumnus Sheldon Wolfchild (Mdewakanton Dakota), the film is a result of the collaborative efforts by Dakota filmmaker and Director Sheldon Wolfchild and Co-Producer Steven Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape). The film, narrated by Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree First Nation), is based on Newcomb's thirty years of research, and his book Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (Fulcrum, 2008), and brings to the big screen an amazing and little known story ---- "A story of historical truth, spirituality, and resistance, told on behalf of the original nations and peoples of Great Turtle Island, and elsewhere on Mother Earth. We are still here, and still rightfully free."

IAIA held its First Annual Indigenous Peoples Day----"A Celebration of Resilience" ----on Monday, October 12, 2015, in the Dance Circle. Included in the celebration was a free barbecue lunch, stickball games, and an Indigenous Liberal Studies Department (ILS) contest announcement.

This semester 92 federally-recognized tribes are represented at IAIA.

The First Annual IAIA Indigenous Peoples Day was sponsored by the Associated Student Government, Student Life, and the Indigenous Peoples Day Committee.

Following the outdoor celebration, the film The Canary Effect was shown in the IAIA Auditorium. A discussion session followed the screening.

The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts was named one of the "Top 7 Places in the U.S. To See Native American Art" by The Culture Trip.

According to the site: "Across the United States, there are a number of museums and exhibits that focus on Native American cultures. Some focus on history, some focus on archaeology, and some focus on art. These seven great museums all seek innovative ways to creatively express Native American narratives through their collections. All of these museums both inform and express beauty."

"The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts features contemporary art, and it is a goal of the MoCNA to establish a cross-cultural dialogue. It contains textiles, paintings, drawings, and pottery, among many other mediums. One current exhibit, War Department, depicts how Native Americans have dealt with war and violence. This exhibit contains items that do not deal with war directly but shows how war affects daily life. Another exhibit, An Evening Redness in the West, contains items that depict the apocalypse and reimagines what will happen afterward."

In a somewhat unprecedented fashion, IAIA presented two art events on October 16, 2015.

First was the Monster Exhibition in the Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery in the Academic Building. Monster included performance art, writing, spoken word, sculpture, works on paper, painting, and more, by IAIA students, staff, faculty, and alumni ----with prizes awarded for the top pieces in a variety of categories. A secret "Monster judge" selected the winner of the overall Monster Award. The exhibition was designed to encourage artists to examine their own definition of "monster," whether personal, mythical, cultural, or humorous.

The opening event began with a Haunted Gallery Walk from 5-5:30 pm, where the works were viewed in the darkened gallery with flashlights and other small illumination. Visitors were encouraged to attend in costume and Halloween treats were served. The Monster Exhibition will run through November 6, 2015.

The second event was Art in the Rave. Inspired by previous "Art in the Raw" events at IAIA, Art in the Rave was an attempt to recreate the spontaneity of prior shows. Art in the exhibition did not need to be framed or specially presented ---- all pieces were hung "as is." This was a "pop-up" show, with the specific location on campus (The Rec Center) not being announced until that evening. Original artworks by IAIA students were presented for sale. The event also featured music, food, and "rave" ambiance ----although, as with all events on the IAIA campus, this was a drug and alcohol-free event.

Monster was co-sponsored by the IAIA Associated Student Government, the Campus Bookstore, and the Student Life Activities Office. Art in the Rave was sponsored by the Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery and the IAIA Museum Club.

A Welcome Dinner and Reception for recent IAIA Artists-in-Residence (A-i-R) Ed Archie NoiseCat and Dyani White Hawk in the Academic Building, took place Monday, October 12, 2015, 5-6:30 pm. Guests met the IAIA A-i-R artists, toured their studio spaces, and heard about the projects they plan to work on while in residence at the IAIA campus.

Ed Archie NoiseCat (Shuswap/St'itLimx, Salish), graduated from Emily Carr College of Art and Design with honors in 1986. He was hired right out of art school by Tyler Graphics in Mount Kisco, New York. While at Tyler Graphics, NoiseCat worked with some of the "blue chip" artists of the day: Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, David Hockney, and Frank Stella to name a few.

Dyani White Hawk currently resides in Shakopee, Minnesota. She is Sicangu Lakota, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. White Hawk earned a MFA in 2011 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and BFA in 2008 from the IAIA. From 2011-2015 she served as Gallery Director and Curator of the All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In March 2015, White Hawk transitioned into a full-time studio practice.

"Blue Corn Mornings is the best thing about mid-terms and finals week. I can't find a container large enough for my atole!"
---- IAIA Student

IAIA Students were treated to some free freshly-made atole during mid-term week at the Student Success Center. Shown is Student Success Center Retention Specialist Joanne Morales stirring up her home-made atole goodness.

To learn more about atole, visit Wiki

IAIA Archery Instructor Randy Neumann and Dartmouth students shooting arrows on a nice Fall day.

Photograph by JoAnn Bishop

IAIA Student newspaper "The IAIA Chronicle" has returned to publication after a hiatus during Evelina Lucero's (Isleta Pueblo) sabbatical. Stories in the recent edition include "Students Desire More Activities On-Campus", "Fall Cooking", and "The Folklore Behind La Llorona". You can read the entire edition at www.iaiachronicle.com.

The IAIA Digital Dome was featured in a recent edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican. In part, the article stated: "The Institute of American Indian Arts' Digital Dome was first intended as a teaching tool for new media. Now the school plans to launch initiatives that will allow members of the public to produce films and other types of high-tech art. The school also has received a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Defense Department to research practical applications of the interactive technology, such as medevac simulations."

Read the entire article on the Santa Fe New Mexican website.

Indigenous Queers + (IQ+) is a new student organization on campus that focuses on creating a supportive and welcoming space to explore the QPOC (Queer People of Color) community, culture, identities, issues, and passions through dialogue, visual, and performing arts. IQ+ additionally seeks to promote understanding, acceptance, and spirited community relations throughout the IAIA campus community.

Throughout the academic year, they will hold weekly meetings (Wednesdays at 8:30 in the Video Projection Room in the CLE) during which members have the opportunity to share questions and insights, concerns and ideas, personal experiences, and historical perspectives about QPOC-related issues. In additional to providing a safe space for such story-sharing and dialogue, these meetings will also include time for discussing organization issues, and for planning workshops, special projects, and other community-building events.

In addition to these weekly meetings, they will offer visual and performing arts projects, special events and workshops. Presenters will include both IQ+ members as well as IAIA and community allies. Through these various events, the group aspires to build and strengthen the school's QPOC and Allied communities, to deepen understanding of QPOC-related issues, and to expand individual skills in, and appreciation for, a wide range of visual and performing arts. Through these diverse events, they also seek to create a dynamic, inclusive space where all can explore and learn together.

IQ+ also has a Tumblr ( indigenousqueersplus.tumblr.com) which will include resources, posts from their meetings, and any additional items they find relevant to the student organization. Folks can also contact IQ+ via their email at [email protected]. Article by Ryan Young (Chippewa).

James McCloud is our new Full-Time Sales Associate at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Store since October 12, 2015. He will be reporting directly to Yashira Ponce, the Museum Store Assistant Manager. James is a graduate of IAIA where he earned a BFA in Printmaking. While at IAIA, he worked as a Student Facilities Worker, Residential Assistant and Curator of the Monster Mash Exhibition. James's most recent experience includes retail sales experience at Whole Foods. James is Washo and Paiute enrolled at the Reno Sparks Indian Colony.

Shawndi L. Appah joined the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Store on October 12, 2015 as a Part-Time Sales Associate. Shawndi will be reporting directly to Yashira Ponce, Museum Store Assistant Manager. Shawndi is a current student at IAIA earning her BA in Museum Studies. She comes to the Museum Store with experience as a sales associate and most recently as a museum technician at the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum. Shawndi is an enrolled member in the Northern Ute Tribe.