IAIA Academic Dean Charlene Teters (Spokane) has been selected to receive the 2017 Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award (WCA LTA). She will be honored along with Mary Schmidt Campbell, Audrey Flack, and Martha Rosler on Saturday, February 18, 2017, at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT). The ceremony is free and open to the public.

The WCA LTA Awards were first presented in 1979 in President Jimmy Carter's Oval Office to a group of women which included famed Santa Fe artist Georgia O'Keeffe. The Awards were the first awards recognizing the contribution of women to the visual arts and their profound effect on society.

Today, the LTA Awards continue to honor the work, vision, and commitment of women in the visual arts. Recent honorees have represented a wide range of distinguished achievement individual arts professions.

Dean Teters is internationally-known for her work as an artist, writer, educator, and activist.

IAIA has entered into a three-way partnership with Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) and the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) to provide enhanced and expanded Northwest Coast (NWC) art programs and opportunities for Alaska students.

The three organizations signed a Memorandum of Agreement that will be used to design and implement a formal education plan that includes an expansion of the existing NWC art program at UAS, and a collaborative relationship with IAIA that will allow UAS students to transfer to the Santa Fe campus to further their art studies.

Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee), President of IAIA said that the school currently has an average of 10 Alaska Native students enrolled per semester, out of around 475, and he is hoping to see that number triple.

"We've had a long history of Alaska Native students in IAIA and this is going to give us an opportunity to increase those numbers dramatically," Martin said.

"It also gives us an opportunity to collaborate more with Sealaska Heritage Institute as well as the University of Alaska Southeast to enhance Northwest Coast art education .... It's a win win win for all three organizations." SHI President Rosita Worl (Tlingit) who was instrumental in putting together this historic agreement commented: "Santa Fe, over nearly one-hundred years, has developed the world's model for advancing Southwest Indian art with the founding of IAIA and the city's annual Indian Art Market, which draws more than 100,000 people. We have long sought to emulate this model to advance Northwest Coast art, which should be designated a national treasure."

First Photograph: UAS Chancellor Richard A. Caulfield, SHI President Rosita Worl (Tlingit), and IAIA President Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee) signing the MOA.

Second Photograph: UAS Chancellor Richard A. Caulfield, SHI President Rosita Worl, and IAIA President Robert Martin; back row: UAS Vice Chancellor Joe Nelson (Yakutat Tlinglit), University of Alaska Southeast Assistant Professor of Alaska Native Studies Mique'l Dangeli (Tsimshian Nation of Metlakatla Indian Community), SHI Art Director Kari Groven, SHI COO Lee Kadinger, and IAIA Trustee Princess Daazhraii Johnson (Neets'aii Gwich'in).

Photographs by Nobu Koch.

Excerpts from the editorial by Isaac Kaplan below:

Away from social media and the presence of heavily armed police, a different side of the camp is being captured by Jaida Grey Eagle, an Oglala Lakota woman, who is currently a photographer studying at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe. Along with some 25 other arts students-videographers, writers, painters, photographers-Grey Eagle made the 14-hour drive north to Standing Rock in mid-September, spending roughly four days at the Oceti Sakowin camp. "We were going up and we were scared because of the images that were coming out [of the protest]," Grey Eagle told me by phone. "But it's so different being there as opposed to watching." The experience has pushed her towards taking more socially engaged photography. "I've honestly never felt so safe in my life," she said. "Walking around alone as a woman is always a thing that gives me a bit of anxiety. But there, I don't know what it was, if it was the energy of the camp, but I just felt so brave and so strong." She described being invited to sit at fires and have discussions with people about why they were there. "I was given hand warmers, wool socks, a lady even gave me a pair of hiking boots," she said. "I've never been hugged so much in my life."

"What people are missing is how peaceful the camp really is, and [that] there are people risking their jobs and risking their lives at home to support this cause," Chad BrownEagle, of the Shoshone Bannock and Spokane Tribe, told me by email. A junior at IAIA, where he studies cinematic arts and serves as the president of student government, BrownEagle traveled to the reservation with his fellow students. One of his friends, he told me, described the camp as "like a time before we were colonized."

The students raised money to support their journey independently of the school, which is federally funded and cannot officially participate in the protests. But they all felt a strong desire to make it to the camp. "For a lot of us that's our family up there, that's our friends, our tribal members," said Grey Eagle. "Just watching from afar, that's really hard."

The students also collected donations to buy canvases, paint, and brushes in order to hold workshops with the children living in the camp. "When we arrived, we went to the school they had there, and when we mentioned the workshop, they were so excited because they needed their youth to focus on something fun other than the Dakota Access Pipeline," BrownEagle said. Grey Eagle described one of her favorite pieces, a work created by a small kid who wrote "this is bad" over black and blue paint. "You could see how much they were absorbing around them," she said. The works were brought back to IAIA and sold in a benefit for the protest. There are plans for students to make more trips to the camp in the coming months, and they are currently holding a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for supplies to keep them going through winter, as the protests show no sign of abating.

Read the entire editorial and see more of Grey Eagle's photographs.

The Institute of American Indian Arts' (IAIA) Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing presents the Winter Readers Gathering on January 7 through January 14, 2017. Readings by noted authors will take place each night beginning at 6 pm in the Auditorium in the Library and Technology Center (LTC) on the IAIA campus.

Participating in the readers gathering this year are noted authors Andre Dubus III and Ross Gay;  filmmakers Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/ Muskogee) and Syreeta McFadden; as well as MFA faculty writers Ramona Ausubel, Marie-Helene Bertino, Sherwin Bitsui (Diné), Kimberly Blaeser (Anishinaabe), Melissa Febos, Sydney Freeland (Diné), Santee Frazier (Cherokee), Manuel Gonzales, Pam Houston, Toni Jensen (Métis), Joan Naviyuk Kane (Iñupiaq), Chip Livingston (Creek), Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca), Ismet Prcic, James Thomas Stevens (Akwesasne Mohawk), Elissa Washuta (Cowlitz), Claire Vaye Watkins, Ken White, and Lidia Yuknavitch.

Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing Director Jon Davis says, "This winter, we're pleased to have best-selling author and National Book Award finalist Andre Dubus III, Ross Gay (a National Book Award winning poet), and prominent political and cultural commentator Syreeta McFadden. We'll be celebrating the imminent release of nonfiction faculty mentor Melissa Febos's second book Abandon Me, as well as nonfiction mentor Chip Livingston's novel, Owls Don't Have to Mean Death, screenwriting mentor and poet Ken White's The Getty Fiend, and poetry mentor Joan Naviyuk Kane's Milk Black Carbon. We'll have after-reading film screenings of Sterlin Harjo's Mekko and works by Sydney Freeland, director of the Emmy-nominated web series Her Story. The always popular Student Showcases will happen on Wednesday and Friday."

View a full schedule of readers and film screenings at MFA Happenings.

Frank Waln and the Sampson Brothers Performance

The IAIA Digital Dome presented a music, spoken word, and dance performance featuring Hip Hop artist Frank Waln (Sicangu Lakota) and the Hoop Dancers the Sampson Brothers (Mvskoke Creek/Seneca) on Friday, November 4, 2016. The artists also did a free workshop on the IAIA Campus earlier in the day.

For more information about the collaboration between Frank Waln and the Sampson Brothers, see the Unbreakable Trio: The Sampson Bros and Frank Waln article.

Special Student Performances

On November 11, 2016, the IAIA Music Club performed for the IAIA faculty, staff, and student community in an evening of music.

On November 18, 2016, the Performing Arts department presented "Notes and Words," an assemblage of duet and monologue work by Theater students--along with musical performances by the IAIA Music Club musicians, with special guest Jai Rideout. This event drew an over-capacity audience to enjoy the performers.

Professor Sheila Rocha of the Performing Arts Department remarked, "In the rebirthing of a Performing Arts initiative and academic program, we offer the community the chance to realize and enjoy the gifts of our music and dramatic arts student-scholars. Their conviction to infusing our campus with the gift of word and sound will inspire all audiences. Welcome to the next chapter of the IAIA."

Scatter Their Own Performance

Performers Scatter Their Own appeared at the IAIA Digital Dome on Friday, December 2, 2016.

The artists also held free workshops on the IAIA Campus as part of their program.

Formed in 2012, Scatter Their Own is an Alter-Native Rock Duo of Oglala Lakota ancestry from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota. Scattering their music to all nations in all directions--from Canada to Texas, and Los Angeles to New York City. Members Scotti Clifford (guitarist and vocalist) and Juliana Brown Eyes-Clifford (bassist and vocalist) were a couple first before they were a band.

IAIA Digital Dome Manager Mats Reiniusson, who has begun to book more and more shows in the IAIA Digital Dome remarked: "It is amazing to have all of these great performers at the IAIA Digital Dome and on campus. In the intimate Dome space performers can get really close to the audience and be able to interact with them during the show. Our goal is to have one performance with well-known artists in the IAIA Digital Dome every month."

IAIA Dean of Students Carmen Henan (Eastern Shoshone), organized a Student Gathering on November 17, 2016, for students, staff, and faculty to discuss any issues that they might be having due to the recent election.

IAIA Chief Financial Officer Larry Mirabal addressed the assembled to talk about how the election will have minimal impact on the financial status of IAIA in the near future.

IAIA Student Counselor Greer McSpadden invited the IAIA community to visit her or one of her team to discuss any personal issues that impacted their well-being, and IQ+ President Ryan Young (Chippewa) also offered support to those who might need it through his organization.

Author, poet, and IAIA Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing Faculty Member Santee Frazier (Cherokee Nation) will serve as guest editor for the 2017 edition of Tribal College Journal Student. He joins an esteemed cadre of writers, poets, and artists who have served as guest editor or essayist for TCJ Student, including Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene), Joy Harjo (Mvskoke), N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa), Luci Tapahonso (Navajo Nation), and last year's guest editor Joan Naviyuk Kane (Iñupiaq). "I have immense respect for Tribal College Journal and hope to put together an excellent issue," Frazier says.

The journal is currently soliciting short stories, poetry, memoirs, artwork, and short films from tribal college students for the contest. The winners will be awarded prizes and will be published in the 2016 edition of TCJ Student and online at www.tcjstudent.org. The deadline for writing submissions is February 10, 2017. The deadline for art and film submissions is March 21, 2017. See the contest guidelines and more information.

TCJ Student helps foster creative writing and highlights the talents of tribal college students. Tribal College Journal will announce the winners at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium's (AIHEC's) student conference in Rapid City, South Dakota, March 19-21, 2017.

The Institute of American Indian Arts's Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program is now accepting applications for the July 2017 semester. Deadline is February 15, 2017, for full consideration for IAIA scholarships, and June 1, 2017, for admittance.

For more information, see Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing.

IAIA Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing Faculty member Sydney Freeland (Diné), an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, has had her latest project, the Netflix original film Deidra and Laney Rob a Train, accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. The festival takes place in Park City, Salt Lake City, and at Sundance Mountain Resort--January 19 through 29, 2017. This will be the film's World Premiere.

Freeland's debut feature film, Drunktown's Finest, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win a number of awards, including the Grand Jury Prize and HBO Outstanding First Feature awards at LA Outfest 2014, as well as a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Feature. In 2016, she directed the web series Her Story, which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Drama. Sydney is also a recipient of the 2015 Fox Global Director's Initiative, 2015 Sundance Women's Fellowship, 2015 Ford Fellowship, 2014 Time Warner Fellowship, and a 2004 Fulbright Scholarship. She was selected to participate in both the 2010 Sundance Screenwriting and Directing Labs and the 2009 Sundance Native Lab.

IAIA MFA Consultant Sherman Alexie's (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene) best-selling YA book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has been acquired by Fox 2000. Hugh Jackman, who has a first-look deal at Fox, will play a supporting role in the film as well as serve in some producing capacity.

The story centers on a teen named Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, he leaves his troubled school on the reservation to attend an all-white farming town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Alexie, who grew up on the very same reservation depicted in the book, is no stranger to Hollywood, having written the 1998 indie breakout Smoke Signals, another coming-of-age story set on a reservation.

Though the book was published nearly a decade ago, it continues to sell briskly, appearing on the New York Times's best-seller list years after its initial run. It remains a favorite among middle-school teachers, but also is credited with dealing realistically with harsh issues including poverty and bulimia.

The New Mexico Association of Museums (NMAM) awarded the annual Hewett Institutional Award for Excellence to the Lloyd Kiva New (LKN) Centennial Celebration during its annual conference. The award is named for Edgar Lee Hewett, the first director of the Museum of New Mexico, and is made to an organization(s) "whose actions exemplify leadership or service to the New Mexico museum community." 

The Lloyd Kiva New Centennial Celebration was an ambitious, multi-institutional collaboration between the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC), New Mexico Museum of Art (NMMA), and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) along with its Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA). Inspired and championed by New's widow, Aysen New, the LKN Centennial Celebration recognized the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lloyd Henri "Kiva" New (Cherokee, 1916-2002) who left behind a legacy as a visionary in Native art and education. Mrs. New accepted the award during the conference.

The LKN Centennial Celebration featured three art exhibits, two publications, an academic symposium, and numerous talks, presentations, and articles. Cherokee artist America Meredeth, who nominated the project said, "the logistical challenges posed by such a complex collaboration between individuals and institutions would daunt lesser curators and authors, but the LKN Project carried on New's spirit of teamwork and service to others. Each individual component can stand on its own merits, but the sum is far greater than its parts in this unique, community-building partnership."

Several IAIA students participated in the NB3 National Cross Country Race. IAIA Students's impressive results are listed below:

1. 28:46: Kurt Lomawaima (Hopi)
2. 29:12: LaShawn Medicine Horn (Yankton Sioux)
3. 32:04: Cassandra Johnson (Alaska First Nations)
4. 38:47: Lanson Lopez (Navajo)
5. 40:28: Justina Bruns (Oglala Lakota Sioux)
6. 46:28: Manuel Ramirez (Otoe-Missouria)

Note pictured: Kurt Lomawaima

Recent IAIA Cinematic Arts graduate Dwayne Joe (Navajo Nation) was the recipient of a Student Production Award from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (producers of the Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards) for his film, Big Sister Rug, which Joe produced for his senior project.

Big Sister Rug documents the true story of the world's largest, hand-woven rug, which was created and is housed on the Navajo reservation. Said Joe, "This award makes me proud of all the accomplishments and hard work I've done at IAIA to bring this story to life."

Dwayne competed with film and communication students from such schools as Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, and the University of New Mexico. The specific category for which he was recognized was College and University Student Production--Long Form: Fiction/Non-Fiction.

Cinematic Arts and Technology Department Chair James Lujan (Taos Pueblo) appeared at Indigenous Comic Con 2016 in Albuquerque, speaking on a panel, "Filmmaking in the Heart of Indian Country," with writer and director Steven Paul Judd (Kiowa/Choctaw).

Lujan was also on hand for the 3rd Annual Pueblo Film Festival where he participated on a Native filmmaking panel with director Jon Sims (Acoma Pueblo), actor Ernie Tsosie (Navajo) and IAIA Cinematic Arts grad Dwayne Joe (Navajo), (who stepped in at the last minute for Conroy Chino).

Finally, Lujan was profiled in the November issue of Albuquerque The Magazine in an article focusing on his recent development deal with the Duke City-based Blue Sky Producer's Lab, which is aiming to produce his pilot for a television series entitled The Tomahawk.

August 19-December 31
Rick Bartow: Things You Know But Cannot Explain --
A Retrospective Exhibition

January 22-July 31, 2016
Lloyd Kiva New: Art

January 22-December 31
Akunnittinni: A Kinngait Family Portrait-Pitseolak Ashoona | Napachie Pootoogook | Annie Pootoogook

January 22-December 31
Forward: Eliza Naranjo Morse

October 24, 2016-February 14, 2017
2016 SWAIA's Indian Market Moving Image Classification X Winners

August 20, 2015-July 31, 2017
Visions and Visionaries

October 18, 2016-January 31, 2017
Docent Training

Thursday, December 8, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Coffee + Cup Making + Chief Curator

Thursday, December 8, 2016, 6 pm
IAIA Cine Student Filmmaker Showcase
(Featuring work produced by IAIA's Cinematic Arts and Technology Students, including the world premiere of senior projects, and Q and A with the filmmakers.)
IAIA Auditorium

Saturday, December 10, 2016
IAIA Holiday Art Market
Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery

December 23, 2016-January 2, 2017
Holiday Closure
IAIA Campus Closed

January 7-14, 2017, 6 pm
MFA Winter Readers Gathering
IAIA Auditorium

The IAIA Radio Show Through Our Eyes on Tuesdays from 4-4:30 pm, KSFR, 101.1 FM, Santa Fe Public Radio, is an IAIA-produced show examining a wide variety of issues relating to the Native American community. Hosted by IAIA Director of Marketing and Communications Eric Davis, the show features conversations with Native American Scholars, Artists, Tribal Leaders, and more. You can listen to the show on the radio or stream it on your computer at KSFR.org. Past shows are podcast on their website, so you can listen any time you'd like at the following link:

www.throughoureyes.libsyn.com