Storm Stories Exhibition at the Alliance for the Arts hopes the arts will help healing after Ian

By in Art World News

Storm Stories Exhibition at the Alliance for the Arts hopes the arts will help healing after Ian
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The Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers has issued a call to artists for its September exhibition titled “Storm Stories.” The call asks artists to encapsulate their experiences during and after Hurricane Ian in two and three dimensional works of art.

“’Storm Stories’ is a project centered on community healing,” says Gallery Manager Emily Radomski, sharing the exhibition’s rationale. “We really wanted to find a way for people to process their experiences after the storm — basically anything documenting their experience during or after the storm. It can be any medium as long as it’s an original piece, not a print. And it has to be smaller than five feet in any direction.”

In the past year, Florida and its Gulf Coast and Caribbean neighbors have weathered earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and drought, all amidst a global pandemic. Artists have helped disaster-impacted communities move forward, rebuild, and prepare for the next crisis. The Alliance hopes that “Storm Stories” will do likewise.

The exhibition includes both an oral and written component.

“For the oral history side of it, we’ve been collecting voicemails,” Radomski notes. “People could call and leave a voicemail just documenting their experience or what happened to them during and after the storm, and we’ve been collecting them since late October or November of last year.”

During that same time frame, the Alliance’s exhibition partner, the Gulf Coast Writers Association, has also been collecting written accounts provided by people impacted by Ian. There was no age or word limit, and submissions could be in prose or poetry.

“So they’ve compiled about 50 stories into a book documenting different people’s stories, and that will be available here during the month of September for sale, and they’ll be giving an author talk as well during the month with some of those contributors.”

As GCWA Program Director Mary Charles notes, both the written accounts and oral histories are now part of Hurricane Ian’s permanent record and lasting legacy.

According to Radomski, the idea for both the book and associated art exhibition evolved from a discussion that occurred at the Alliance’s first weekly staff meeting following their re-opening some three weeks after the storm.

“We all sat down and it was kind of just like a check-in, where we all just talked about what we had experienced, and I think it was really helpful for us to talk about it as a group and talk about what we had seen and what we had done, and everything. And so we thought maybe the community needs that as well.”

There’s a third component to September’s “Storm Stories” exhibition, and it comes to the community compliments of the Disaster in the Body Project conducted by the University of Florida’s Center for Arts, Migration and Entrepreneurship. According to Professor of Epidemiology Burton Singer, natural disasters and pandemics result in widespread toxic stress which can lead to negative health effects in an event’s aftermath.

“It’s basically about how the body holds trauma,” Radomski observes. “And so they’ll give a talk, a lecture, about trauma in the body and then they’ll lead visitors through some movements to help release some of the tension and the trauma that the body can hold.”

Artists interested in participating in the visual art component of “Storm Stories” have until 5 p.m. on August 7th to submit digital images of up to three works in any media, except giclees, that either use found objects and recycled materials collected after Ian or express their experiences during and after the storm. There is no entry fee although the show is juried to ensure theme.

A prospectus for the exhibition can be found on the Alliance’s website (provided below).

“The art exhibit will be up for the whole month. It will open on the first, but there will be no reception. We’re doing a closing reception on the anniversary of the storm on the 28th.”

Radomski adds that the Alliance has witnessed the healing power of art and is bringing “Storm Stories” in that spirit.

“We just hope this will be helpful for the community without re-opening wounds, I guess. We really want the concentration to be an outlet for the community to heal.”

MORE INFORMATION:

  • The Alliance for the Arts is a nonprofit community visual and performing arts center located in the heart of Fort Myers, Florida. Since 1975, the Alliance has been committed to transforming lives and improving community through the arts. The Alliance campus and galleries are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. It’s 10-acre campus is located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard just south of Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers. For more information, please call 239-939-2787, visit us at www.ArtInLee.org. You can also follow the Alliance on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
  • Founded in 1995 and incorporated in 2004, the Gulf Coast Writers Association, Inc. (GCWA) provides a forum for fellowship, education, and information for writers. GCWA’s well-regarded annual writing contest draws a wide-range of authors. Based in Fort Myers, the organization attracts members from throughout Southwest Florida from Marco Island to Tampa. At monthly meetings, speakers and workshops offer expert advice on such topics as writing techniques, publishing, and marketing. Participants at these meetings also have the opportunity to read their works. The organization’s members include published as well as unpublished writers and professional editors, agents and publicists. The literary genres run the gamut from poetry, adult fiction and nonfiction to children’s and young adult, historical fiction, romance, mystery/thriller, memoir, essays and screenplay. Members include full-time writers as well as corporate professionals, teachers, and business owners, all still working or retired. GCWA’s website is gulfwriters.org.
  • The deadline for written “Storm Stories” submissions closed May 15, 2023. However, the Alliance is still collecting oral histories. Some of the latter may appear on the walls of the gallery during the September exhibition.
  • The juried exhibition in the Alliance’s main gallery will be on display September 1-30, 2023. The exhibition will culminate in a closing reception on the anniversary of Hurricane Ian’s landfall on September 28, 2023 from 5 to 7 p.m. This event will be in place of an opening reception and will include light refreshments.
  • “At the Alliance for the Arts (AFTA), we believe in the healing power of art,” says Gallery Manager Emily Radomski. “In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, we have seen a great need for healing in our community.”
  • With respect to the University of Florida Trauma in the Body Project, new research, published in the Journal Psychoneuroendocrinology explores a concept known as allostatic load, which represents the price paid by the body for responding to repetitive and diverse forms of stressful experiences. It is based on the idea of allostasis, which is a process of physiological adaptation to acute stress that restores a condition of homeostasis in the face of challenges. Over time, cumulative exposure to stressful challenge leads to wear and tear on the body, accumulation of allostatic load, and an increased susceptibility to disease. Singer and his coauthors developed a framework that melds aspects of psychosocial and physiological allostatic load to estimate its burden in people affected by disasters and traumatic events. These estimates could be used to gauge the short- and long- term health effects of disasters, or to predict or mitigate prevention of specific illnesses or conditions. The framework could even be leveraged for use in an observing system focused upon post-disaster human health, the authors say.
  • In 1936, German psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich postulated that the body develops chronic muscular spasms in order to block the release of emotions such as anxiety, rage and sexual excitation. He termed this phenomenon as “muscular armouring” and developed a system of releasing these spasms through physical manipulation which concurrently released the associated repressed childhood memories giving rise to the blocked emotions.
  • Ida Pauline Rolf similarly developed a system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education now called “Rolfing” that seeks to release trauma encapsulated in the body’s muscles, thereby returning the skeleton and musculature to proper, health-promoting alignment. [See also, Moshe Feldenkrais’s Awareness Through Movement system of physical exercise that aims to improve human functioning and overall health by increasing awareness through movement.]
  • In the same way, the UF Trauma in the Body Project proposes certain movements as a way of releasing allostatis associated with events such as Hurricane Ian.
  • “We’ll have availability during the month [of September] for people to come in and work with a massage therapist,” Radomski notes. “So I think we’re planning on having one day that’s dedicated to first responders to come and get a free massage and free meditation. And then we’ll have different ones available to different groups of people who went through a lot during that time.”

To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall’s website: SWFL Art in the News.

Spotlight on the Arts for WGCU is funded in part by Naomi Bloom, Jay & Toshiko Tompkins, and Julie & Phil Wade.

7 Common Landscape Photography Mistakes

By in Photography

7 Common Landscape Photography Mistakes

Landscape photography is a challenging but rewarding genre that takes the combination of strong technique, creative vision, and solid editing to create a successful image, and things can sometimes go wrong. If you find your landscape shots are not as good as you would like, check out this fantastic video tutorial that discusses seven common landscape photography mistakes and how to fix them and improve your work. 

Coming to you from Mads Peter Iversen, this great video tutorial discusses seen common landscape photography mistakes and how to fix them. One that I think is particularly easy to make is not checking the edges of the frame. We get so focused on the center part of the image that we do not even notice things like a stray tree branch, a trash can, or even a human (I have been guilty of this) lingering on the edge. The problem with anything visually interesting near the edge of the frame is that it easily leads the viewer’s eye out of the shot, upsetting the entire balance of the image. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Iversen. 

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out “Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi.” 

Photographer captures balloons ‘after the party’ to show impact to Ontario waterways

By in Photography

Photographer captures balloons ‘after the party’ to show impact to Ontario waterways
An arch of gold and white balloons, partway on a wild bluff and partway on the sandy beach.
Justin Langille said he was intrigued by the toxic problems presented by such a universal symbol of joy. This photo, titled Active Cluster, was taken at Pinery Provincial Park in 2021. (Justin Langille)

All of Yesterday’s Parties is a project by London, Ont., photographer Justin Langille to highlight the gap between people’s love for balloons and the risks they pose to the environment.

Langille photographed lost and discarded balloons in southwestern Ontario using a Polaroid camera. His work has earned him a Canada Council for the Arts grant to expand the project. 

Langille spoke with Afternoon Drive host Allison Devereaux. Here’s part of their conversation

How did you become so interested in balloons?

I was an outreach worker with London Cares (an organization the provides street outreach). I started to spend a lot of time around the Thames River with people who lived there and had nowhere else to go. I just started to understand, through that experience and other things, the importance of water to people’s lives. 

Then there were other visits to beaches, like the Pinery Provincial Park with my family, where my kids love to play on beaches. I started to notice the plastic pollution and that balloons were everywhere.

I would find them in all shapes and sizes: deflated, fresh from a party somewhere blown across the lake. I started to understand how ubiquitous they are and how much of a problem plastic pollution really is.

Langille spotted this sign at an auto mechanic shop in Clinton, Ont. Langille says he uses Polaroid photography for its tactile, familial nature. (Justin Langille)

Tell us where that led you?

I really started to follow the trail of balloons and started to to look for them everywhere I went. As someone who feels responsible for water stewardship, I started to pick them up. I started to think about balloons more. Balloons are such a universal symbol of joy for kids and for everybody, almost, across the world.

But they’re also extremely toxic and they can strangle wildlife. They can choke wildlife. 

You talk about the idea of balloons being tied to celebration. People love balloons and yet at the same time they’re so harmful. What is your reflection on that?

It’s humbling because they’re embedded in so many parts of our lives, as well as the environment now. 

I think they really show us how deeply we have to change as a society and how profoundly we have to change these parts of our lives. I think it really forces us to consider, ‘Do I need balloons at my children’s party? Do I need balloons at this celebration? What could I do instead?’

A close-up shot of a clear balloon in the sand, half-buried and starting to break down.
A mylar balloon biodegrading in the sand in Kincardine, Ont. This photo is titled “Degredation.” (Justin Langille)

When you are photographing balloons in the wild, in cities, what is the mood you’re trying to get across?

I think in other venues, like at my children’s school, there was someone who had a balloon to celebrate their child’s first day of kindergarten. It was special, printed with their name and everything.

So, I’m trying to document how people are still actively using balloons. Not to draw attention to things that people are doing wrong, but just to show, how significant they are if we multiply the numbers. Then, how big of a problem they can be the next day, after the party. 

Is it just a lack of understanding of how harmful they are? Or do people just love balloons so much that it’s hard to let go of?

I think it’s a lack of public education. I think that more needs to be done, maybe a nuanced strategy by environmental groups. I think more intention by local governments to try to impress upon people’s consciousness about how we’re using products, how we’re pursuing our lives with single use plastics. 

What do you say to people who say, “Well, it’s just a balloon. What’s the harm?”

A father and two kids, a young boy and a young girl, in an apple orchard. The son is clutching a bag of apples.
Langille with his children, Liam and June. (Submitted by Justin Langille. )

I think that just comes back to the responsibility for the places where we exist; a recognition that we need these lands and waters to survive. And while it is just the one balloon, cumulatively, if you think about everything that everybody else does, your balloon is among the 700,000 or more that land on Great Lakes shores if it’s released accidentally, or on purpose. 

Now that you have this grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, where are you going with this?

I’m going to start to explore the larger life cycle of the balloon. Primarily, where they’re created and how they’re being circulated in the economy.

If this changes how we use balloons, if their use changes as plastic laws, perhaps, become more restrictive – hopefully – in the next few years, we might be using balloons differently. I’m also seeing this as maybe an opportunity to still capture their social significance now, before we do start to change this measurably. 

A man's extended hand, holding up a string with balloon remnants attached. The lake shoreline is in the distance.
An old balloon pulled from the sand by Lake Huron in Kincardine, Ont. This is titled, “Everywhere you are there is a balloon.” (Justin Langille)

Interesting. So you might be documenting the end of balloons.

Maybe. I have more research to do but I have identified some places where they’re produced. That’s a big goal for the project, to make some of those inroads on where they’re coming from.

Senate Committee Approves Three FY24 Appropriations Bills

By in Native

Senate Committee Approves Three FY24 Appropriations Bills

Murkowski Scores Wins for Public Safety, Fisheries, and Victims Services

Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, scored wins for Alaska in the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) and Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Bills, which were approved by the committee, and now will advance to the full Senate for consideration. In the CJS bill, Murkowski secured wins for Alaska’s public safety, fisheries and oceans research, and victim services.  In the FSGG bill, she secured wins for Native-owned businesses, illegal drug prevention, and Alaskan taxpayers. 

The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2024 also passed the full committee with a vote of 29-0. The committee previously approved the FY24 appropriations bills for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Agriculture and Rural Development. With today’s full committee markup, five appropriations bills are on their way to the Senate floor for full consideration. 

In addition to wins supporting and improving ongoing federal programs, Senator Murkowski secured funding for 30 FY24 congressionally directed spending (CDS) requests through the CJS, FSGG accounts, resulting in $63.93 million in investments for public safety, fisheries research, and victim support services, entrepreneurship and small business owners, healthcare innovation, and Alaska’s historical and arts communities.

“These additional appropriations bills continue the significant investments in Alaska that will make a difference in the safety of our communities, our oceans research capabilities, abilities to provide support to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault while also supporting Native-owned businesses and Alaskan taxpayers,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski. “The appropriations process is a powerful tool to allow Congress to fund our government, while also using the opportunity to direct investments back to our states. From supplying the Soldotna Police Department with new emergency care equipment, enhancing the research efforts of Alaska Fish and Game to study freshwater salmon habitat, supporting victim services organizations—these federal investments will help support communities across Alaska.”

 

FY24 CJS and FSGG Appropriations Bills Highlights:

Strengthening Alaska Fisheries and Oceans Research

Alaska’s oceans and fisheries are the heartbeat of communities across the state—and that’s why Senator Murkowski worked hard to include provisions throughout the CJS appropriations bill that will strengthen our blue economy, support coastal communities, promote electronic monitoring development and installation, and enhance research abilities to create healthier fisheries. Senator Murkowski helped secure more than $205 million for Fisheries Data Collections, Surveys, and Assessments, $44 million for Regional Fishery Management Councils and Fisheries Commissions, and $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery fund. 

Senator Murkowski also secured the following CDS requests to strengthen Alaska’s fisheries and oceans research abilities:

  • Statewide: $4 million to the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation to conduct research on Bristol Bay red king crab enhancement, including optimum rearing conditions, habitat, growth, and survival through rearing stages and post release.
  • Statewide: $2.01 million for the Marine Exchange of Alaska to create a user guide to keep ships safely sailing in the Arctic.
  • Statewide: $1.2 million for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to fund coastal marine surveys that support sustainable salmon management in the northern Bering Sea, southern Bering Sea, and western Gulf of Alaska.
  • Statewide: $2.5 million to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to better equip Alaska Department of Fish and Game research vessels with necessary technology and upgrades.
  • Statewide: $520,000 for the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association to train Fisheries Technicians to further develop their capabilities in salmon research, project implementation and administration.
  • North Slope Borough: $1.5 million to support the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management in estimating the abundance of the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock of bowhead whales.
  • Statewide: $2.8 million for the University of Alaska System to research the impacts of environmental stressors on freshwater and marine aquatic life in Alaska.
  • Anchorage: $106,000 for the University of Alaska System to research alternative methods of energy consumption reduction in kelp and seaweed drying processes.
  • Annette Islands Reserve: $403,000 for the Metlakatla Indian Community for fish hatchery improvements.
  • Statewide: $4 million for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to research freshwater and marine juvenile salmon habitat. 
  • Annette Islands Reserve: $1 million for the Metlakatla Indian Community to monitor, survey, and trap European green crab in Southeast Alaska.
  • North Slope Borough: $1.5 million for the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management To support the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management in estimating the abundance of the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock of bowhead whales.

Investing in Alaska’s Public Safety and Health

Working with advocates in the state to address the issue of violence, Senator Murkowski worked to include funding for the Services-Training-Officers-Prosecutors (STOP) Violence Against Women Program at $255 million. She worked with Tribal leaders to fund the Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction at $15 million.

Senator Murkowski’s funded FY24 CDS requests that invest in Alaska’s public safety efforts include:

  • Anchorage: $227,000 for the Anchorage Police Department to provide a Special Weapons and Tactics command response vehicle for the Anchorage Police Department.
  • Fairbanks: $2.2 million for the Fairbanks Emergency Communication Center to upgrade the Alaska Land Mobile Radio system.
  • Juneau: $2 million for the City and Borough of Juneau to upgrade their first responder radio communications system.
  • Soldotna: $110,000 for the Soldotna Police Department to supply emergency care equipment.
  • Statewide: $4 million for heavy equipment to support rural maintenance needs
  • Haines: $5 million for the Haines Community Safety and Training Center. 
  • Northwest Arctic Borough: $2.6 million for the Northwest Arctic Borough Public Safety, Fire, and Rescue Facilities. 
  • Craig: $4.1 million for the Craig Firehall and EMS Building Construction.

 

Supporting Victim Services Efforts in Alaska

Senator Murkowski continues to focus on preventing domestic violence and sexual assault in Alaska and providing critical services for victims. From including funding for the Sexual Assault Services Program at $80 million, to advocating for increases to the Services for Rural Victims program—Senator Murkowski is working to provide significant support for victims in Alaska.

  • Statewide: $4 million for the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault to support victim services organizations.

 

Supporting Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs in Alaska

Senator Murkowski continues to work hard to support Alaska’s small business owners and those who aspire to make a positive difference in our state, including by continued advocacy for ensuring that Alaskan subcontractors don’t have to have a brick and mortar place of business in every tiny community where they may be doing work. Senator Murkowski’s funded FY24 CDS Requests to support Alaska small businesses and entrepreneurs include:

  • Statewide: $1 million for the University of Alaska System’s Alaska Native Entrepreneurship Program.
  • Southeast: $350,000 to expand the Ketchikan Indian Community’s State Small Business Credit Initiative Program. 

Fighting Illegal Drug Use

Illegal drugs have devastated families and communities throughout Alaska. Senator Murkowski will continue to support drug prevention efforts and support for those impacted by this terrible scourge. Her efforts include supporting the Community Based Coalition Enhancement Grant Program, which will encourage community-led coalitions to raise awareness on the rise of fentanyl and prevent drug overdose deaths caused by the drug. 

  • Statewide: Senator Murkowski continues to support efforts like the Drug Free Communities Program and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program.

Supporting Alaska’s History and Arts Communities 

Senator Murkowski funded FY24 CDS Requests that support both the arts and the humanities in Alaska include:

  • Statewide: $1.5 million for the University of Alaska System to preserve rare and unique films with historical footage of Alaska and oral histories.
  • Statewide: $10 million to the Alaska Leaders Archive, Inc. to Create an archive of the collections of Alaskan leaders who helped shape our state and to develop a research and academic center leading the study and discourse on leadership in business and public policy.
  • Statewide: 1.5 million to the University of Alaska Anchorage to install shelving and enhance space for federal and other records related to Alaska lands and resource development.
  • Statewide: $295,000 to the Alaska Native Arts Foundation to establish a directory of Native artists, their craft, and their works that is easily available and accessible to the public.

Improving Healthcare in Alaska

Senator Murkowski’s funded FY24 CDS Requests to support and improve healthcare in Alaska include: 

  • Statewide: $1.512 million to Rural Alaska Community Action Program (RuralCAP) for the Community Action Resource Center. 
  • Statewide: $2 million to University of Alaska System for Alaska Healthcare Innovation.

 

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Local boutique honors Mexican roots, cultural icon via Frida Fest

By in Native

Local boutique honors Mexican roots, cultural icon via Frida Fest

Mexican painter Frida Kahlo survived polio, a car accident, chronic pain and early 20th-century expectations to become a famous artist and cultural icon. Kahlo’s works did not become famous until about four decades after her death when she became a pillar of the feminist movement, as well as the eventual inspiration for Bless Your Bones Boutique founder and Lewisville resident Kimberly Perez.

“I started [Frida Fest] just for North Texas, and we have such an artist community that I felt it was necessary because there was absolutely nothing for Frida,” Perez said. “There’s Day of the Dead, but nothing to celebrate the art of [the culture], and I felt she deserved her own day.” 

The second annual Frida Fest was held last Saturday at Harvest House. The celebration hosted local vendors chosen to market their wares and celebrate Frida Kahlo from 3 to 8 p.m. The event date, July 8, is significant, as Frida Fest is meant to celebrate Kahlo’s birthday, July 6. 

“I think people either know a lot about Frida, or they don’t know that much,” Perez said. “She’s been such a powerhouse inspiration-wise — she created an empire on her own, and she went through hell.”

Like Kahlo, Perez’s artistic nature started in her younger years when Perez’s mother was a commercial artist who encouraged her to paint as a child. 

“Every piece of my artwork, if it’s jewelry that I make or a painting, it all comes from [Kahlo],” Perez said. “Pretty much one of the most inspirational artists that I look up to is Frida.”

Kahlo’s art, while primarily focused on self-portraits, nature and artifacts of Mexico, was influenced most strongly by the native art and Mexican folk culture surrounding her. One of her paintings, known as “The Frame,” was purchased by the Louvre, cementing her place as the first Mexican artist in their collection. The picture is a self-portrait of Kahlo, made of various mediums, including an aluminum sheet, glass and paint.

“I think it’s important to celebrate her through food, culture, music [and] art, she had so many layers to her.” Perez said. “And it all came out in her art.”

Prevalent through all of her pieces was the influence of the Zapotec tribe, the native peoples of the southern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula in modern-day southeast Mexico. Kahlo was inspired by the Zapotecs and Aztec people, with a particular draw to the matriarchal structure and female empowerment woven through Zapotec history. 

“Nizhoni in Navajo means beautiful, so beautiful beadwork, beautiful dreamcatchers,” said James Adakai, Nizhoni Beadwork and Dreamcatchers co-founder and Navajo Apache tribe member. “For myself, dreamcatchers, it goes back to when I was 9 years old, and the story [comes from] my adoptive grandma [whom] was Chippewa, Ojibwe, and that’s where the dreamcatchers actually came from.”

The Ojibwe, a Native tribe also called the Chippewa, hailed from areas of modern-day Canada, Minnesota and North Dakota. While dreamcatchers became more widespread amongst Native communities in the ’60s and ’70s, their origin intertwined with the Ojibwe belief of dreams being a connection to the spirit world.

“We just put two and two together and started our own business,” said Rosa Adakai, Nizhoni Beadwork and Dreamcatchers co-founder and Aztec dancer. “So we just kind of tied [our cultures] together that way. We are on our second year and we have a mixture of Mexican arts and crafts and Northern Native American arts and crafts.”

After two years at Harvest House, Perez seeks a new venue to stretch Frida Fest’s legs to host more vendors and attendees. Frida Fest will be hosted around the same time next July to continue celebrating Kahlo’s birthday, life and art. 

“I think that she had such a big influence on Latina culture, on North America and around the world,” Maria Aguilar, University of Texas at San Antonio graduate and nonprofit JOLT regional organizer. “I lived in Spain for a little bit, and at their museum, they had one of her pieces in the exhibit, and seeing that in a space, seeing her break through the barriers, that is definitely influential.” 

Aguilar also notes that a lot of Kahlo’s influence and public image stemmed from the Black and brown culture that Kahlo grew up around, which they believe is often overlooked when telling Kahlo’s story. 

“She’s more than just really cool paintings and a fashion icon she went through war to be who she was, and I think that’s important for everybody to see because [being] small business owners, artists, like myself, it’s hard,” Perez said. “Some of us don’t see recognition until after we’re dead and gone. And I feel it’s really important to keep all aspects of her in the eyes of the community.”

Featured Image: A Frida Fest vendor’s booth features a graphic T-shirt of Frida Kahlo at Harvest House on July 8, 2023. Makayla Brown

Native art and cultures celebrated at 31st annual Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival

By in Native

Native art and cultures celebrated at 31st annual Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival
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INDIANAPOLIS — The 31st annual Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market and Festival was celebrated June 24-25, with more than 4,000 guests enjoying performances and shopping for exquisite art from 122 Native artists from 60 cultures across the U.S. and Canada. This was one of the largest groups of artists to participate in Indian Market and Festival in a decade, cementing the market’s reputation nationally and regionally as one of the major cultural events in downtown Indianapolis each summer.

Artists showed and sold works from multiple disciplines, including jewelry, pottery, basketry, beadwork, carvings, paintings, weavings and cultural items. Visitors could engage with the artists at their booths inside the Eiteljorg Museum and on the grounds, purchase their art and enjoy music, dance and cultural performances during the weekend. The Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance were the 2023 presenting sponsors of Indian Market and Festival.

“The 31st annual Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival was an amazing celebration of Native arts and cultures, featuring some longtime artists whom experienced collectors consistently seek out each year, as well as some exciting young artists who represent the future of the market,” Eiteljorg President and CEO Kathryn Haigh said. “The Eiteljorg staff, volunteers and Board members went the extra mile to make the event a positive experience for artists as well as returning market-goers and first-time guests.”

Many artists entered their works into a juried competition. A panel of three experts in Native art judged the competition, through which $38,000 in cash prizes were awarded, along with ribbons. The museum presented awards for Best of Show and other categories June 24 during the Market Morning Breakfast, held under the Eiteljorg’s outdoor shade structure, The Sails, with artists and the market’s most loyal supporters as guests.

The annual Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award is presented for works the museum acquires during Indian Market to add to the its permanent collections. This year, two artists received the purchase award: Kelly Church (Gun Lake Tribe) for a basket titledWhen the Stars & Dawn Collide, and Aydrian James Day (Anishinaabe / Hochunk / Lakota) for a beadwork piece titled Aadizookewin the Storyteller. Aydrian is the first artist in the youth division to win an Eiteljorg purchase award.

This year, the artist whose work won the Margot L. Eccles Best of Show Award received a $7,500 cash prize: Glenda McKay (Ingalik-Athabascan), for a doll she created out of natural materials, including seal fur, mammoth ivory, whale baleen and stone, titled Let Me Tell You a Story. Supported by The Margot L. Eccles Arts & Culture Fund (a fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation), the Best of Show award is named for the late Margot Eccles, a civic leader, philanthropist, art collector, Eiteljorg Board member and past chair of Indian Market and Festival, who brought passion, vision and generosity to the annual event.

Here are other annual awards presented at the 31st annual Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival:

  • The Helen Cox Kersting Award is given to an artist whose work exemplifies the highest quality of execution and innovation within a traditional Native art medium. This year’s award, which carries a $1,000 prize, went to Raynard Scott (Diné [Navajo]) for a mixed-media piece, Dinetah-Poly.  
  • The Margot L. Eccles Youth Award encourages the next generation of young artists ages 17 and younger. Thirteen-year-old Aydrian James Day (Anishinaabe / Hochunk / Lakota) of Suttons Bay, Michigan, won for his beadwork piece, Aadizookewin the Storyteller, which also received one of the Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Awards.

The Friends of Indian Market and Festival sponsored the awards, which included cash prizes for the best entry in each division, as well as for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place entries in multiple categories comprising a division. The 2023 Indian Market and Festival Best of Division award recipients in each category are:

  • Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Photography and Prints:  David Martin (Pokagon Potawatomi) of South Bend, Indiana, for his painting Clarence White, Pokagon Elder.
  • Sculpture: David Farnham (Onondaga) of Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada, for Owl Spirit.
  • Carvings and Dolls: Glenda McKay (Ingalik-Athabascan) of Gallipolis, Ohio, for Let Me Tell You a Story, the piece which also won the Best of Show Award.
  • Jewelry: Tonya June Rafael (Navajo) of Thoreau, New Mexico, for Purse with chain-linked strap.
  • Pottery: Crystal Hanna (Cherokee Nation) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Mississippian Bat Bowl.
  • Basketry: Kelly Church (Gun Lake Tribe) of Hopkins, Michigan, for When the Stars & Dawn Collide, which also won one of the Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Awards.
  • Weavings and Textiles: Leah Mata Fragua (Northern Chumash) of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, for 1.6 Degrees.
  • Cultural Items: Glenda McKay (Ingalik-Athabascan) for Beauty from Within.
  • Beadwork: Salisha Old Bull (Salish / Crow) of Arlee, Montana, for a cradleboard titled The Matriarch.
  • Innovative Arts: Raynard Scott (Diné [Navajo]) of Sanders, Arizona, for Dinetah-Poly, which also won the Kersting award

The signature image for the 31st annual Indian Market and Festival depicts a quillwork and beadwork bag, created by artist Monica Jo Raphael (Anishinaabe / Sičáŋğu Lakota), titled Nuh-Mah-Nuh Daawina Akiin (Homelands of the Comanche People). The image appeared on commemorative Indian Market and Festival T-shirts and tote bags. Images of the winning artworks in all categories are at this link: 

https://tinyurl.com/yckus2mx.

This year was the final Indian Market and Festival during the tenure of Eiteljorg President and CEO Emeritus John Vanausdall, who retired June 30 after nearly 27 years at the museum. “To see Indian Market and Festival grow and improve each year has been remarkable, and we have cherished our friendships with the Native artists and performers,” Vanausdall said. “Indian Market and Festival has raised the profile of Native art across the region, and working with the staff, volunteers and Board in presenting the market each year is one of the highlights of my time at the museum.”

In addition to presenting sponsors the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance, the 31st annual Indian Market and Festival was sponsored by the Margot L. Eccles Arts and Culture Fund, a CICF fund; Raymond James and Associates in Indiana; OneAmerica; and the Penrod Society.    

Two longtime Indian Market and Festival artists who died in the past year were remembered during the Market Morning Breakfast on June 24. Shirley M. Brauker (Little River Band of Odawa), who died last Nov. 22 at age 72, was renowned for her Woodland-style carved-and-cut-out pottery technique. She participated in every market from 1993 to 2022. Benjamin Harjo Jr. (Seminole / Absentee Shawnee), who died May 20 at age 77, was a painter and printmaker. His artwork Coyote and the Hummer was the signature image for the 9th Indian Market and Festival in 2001.

First held in 1993, the Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival has grown into one of the top Native art markets in the nation. Artists must be enrolled members of a federally or state-recognized tribe or members of a First Nation to participate in the market; and their entries must be in compliance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, handmade within the past two years, and available for purchase during the market.

DPI Alum Savannah Faith Jackson Wins 2023 Photo Review International Photography Competition

By in Photography

DPI Alum Savannah Faith Jackson Wins 2023 Photo Review International Photography Competition
A Black woman looks at herself in the mirror with her back to the camera.

Savannah Faith Jackson, Morgan in a Moment of Self-Reflection, 2023

Winners of the 2023 Photo Review International Photography Competition have been officially announced! Congratulations to DPI alum Savannah Faith Jackson, who is among this year’s incredible group of photographers!

About the Competition

The 2023 Photo Review International Photography Competition was juried by Deborah Willis, award winning artist and University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow.

The Photo Review is a critical journal of international scope and readership. Publishing since 1976, The Photo Review covers photography events throughout the country and serves as a central resource for the Mid-Atlantic region. With incisive reviews, exciting portfolios, lively interviews, the latest in books and exhibitions, The Photo Review biannual journal has earned a reputation as one of the best serious photography publications being produced today. Our writers — including A.D. Coleman, Stephen Perloff, Shelley Rice, Peter Hay Halpert, Barbara L. Michaels, Jean Dykstra, and Mark Power — have weighed in on subjects as varied as the posthumous publication of work by Diane Arbus, women in photography, the growth of digital media, the historical movement from Pictorialism into Modernism, etc., etc. In his ongoing series, “The Censorship Diaries,” Editor Stephen Perloff was in the forefront in covering the controversy over funding for the NEA and censorship of the arts.

The Photo Review has earned a reputation for lucid and incisive writing aimed at an intelligent and informed audience, but free of the cant and jargon that infects much contemporary writing about art. Thus, both arts publications and the popular press have looked to us for interpretations of what’s happening on the photography scene. Articles have been reprinted in such publications as Afterimage, To, Photography in New York, American Photo, and others.

Editor Stephen Perloff, a respected writer, educator and photographer, has been interviewed for The New York Times, The Toronto Globe & Mail, The Wall Street Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Photo District News, and the New York Observer. He has received two critic’s fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Colin Ford Award for Curatorship from the Royal Photographic Society.

Goodman once again hosting spirited Indigenous music and culture gathering

By in Native

Goodman once again hosting spirited Indigenous music and culture gathering

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Local indigenous artists will be showcasing art, culture and music at the Goodman Theatre this weekend as part of a weekend-long celebration.

“Sweetest Season: A Gathering of Indigenous Creativity” started at the Goodman last year as a day of Indigenous spoken word and song.

“This year, it’s grown significantly and is now a gathering of indigenous creativity, so it’ll be a full weekend of performances, workshops, artist markets, and some panel discussions as well,” said Kim Vigue, executive director of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.

“We have everyone, from classically trained opera singers who sing in their languages to Blues guitarists, native Hawaiian performers, Chickasaw violinists,” Vigue added.

She said many of these performances are interwoven with contemporary styles.

“There’s this expectation that our performance, our musical styles have to be stuck in the past, and we want people to know that our songs, our culture, everything, evolves just like everything else,” Vigue said.

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