Twisted Arts, an organization that uplifts LGBTQ arts and artists, is hosting a two-day festival in Tulsa that will showcase Two-Spirit Native American artists from Oklahoma and beyond.

Kevin Lovelace, one of the founders of Twisted Arts, said after moving back to Tulsa, he noticed there wasn’t really a festival for LGBTQ Tulsans.

“So I was like, well, let’s start one just for fun, you know, and needed something to do,” Lovelace recalled.

The inaugural Two-Spirit Festival is this weekend in Tulsa-the tagline: An Indigiqueer Celebration. It will feature a lineup of entertainment, music and a drag show with performer Landa Lakes.

Lakes is a Chickasaw writer, musician, activist and artist who is originally from Oklahoma but currently lives in San Francisco. Lakes derives her name from the Land O’Lakes label that once featured a young Native woman holding up a tray of butter.

The second day of the festival will feature an exhibition and panel on Indigiqueer arts.

Osage performer Marx will be singing new singles from their forthcoming album 2S Sacred. They along with eight other Indigenous artists will be performing as part of a festival that has the goal of giving more visibility to LGBTQ Native Americans, who use the term Two-Spirit to identify themselves.

Marx remembers a time when talking about being Two-Spirit was taboo in the Native community. Now, they’re seeing more events like this one in Tulsa.

“Two-Spirit people are really wanting visibility-for their existence to be honored and to be known.”

Earlier this year, Marx debuted the first single from their forthcoming album titled How Long, about a young Two-Spirit person struggling with belonging. They said the single was inspired by just how many young, queer people contemplate taking their own lives. Today, Marx said there is more space in the community for Two-Spirit people, but there is still more work to do.

At the festival, two members of the community will be honored: John Hawk Co-Cke, retired certified prevention specialist for behavioral health in Oklahoma and identifies as transgender and Two-Spirited and Tony Staton, another activist working to elevate Two-Spirit people in Oklahoma and beyond.

The festival is being put on by Twisted Arts in Tulsa, an LGBTQ arts organization that got its start in 2020. The festival is on Saturday and Sunday at 101 Archer and WOMPA, an arts collective space.

Learn more about the lineup here.

Details

By Elyse Wild

October 12, 2023

Cherokee Art Market
Tulsa, OK
October 14-15, 2023

A celebration of authentic Native art, Cherokee Art Market returns to Hard Rock Tulsa. At one of the largest Native American art markets in the state, guests will enjoy the authentic work of 150 elite Native American artists from across the country. More than 40 tribes will be represented at the 18th annual Cherokee Art Market, with artwork ranging from beadwork, pottery, paintings, basketry, sculptures, textiles, and more. 

Native American Heritage Celebration
Springfield, MO
October 14, 2023

Step into the rich tapestry of America’s indigenous people at the Native American Heritage Celebration hosted at Wonders of Wildlife. Immerse yourself in a world of cultural Native American art and dance, primitive hunting, and outdoor survival. Explore a vibrant and cultural marketplace featuring Native American vendors from across the Ozarks, showcasing their crafts and wares.

Museum Nights
Gainesville, FL 
October 12, 2023

Museum Nights joins the Gainesville community to celebrate the day all week and to embrace Indigenous peoples from throughout the Americas. Join to experience dance, drumming, and art by indigenous artists. Other activities developed by non-Native students will offer opportunities to reflect on and acknowledge the cultures of Indigenous peoples. 

Native American Harvest Powwow
Wheaton, IL
October 14, 2023

Native American Annual Harvest Pow Wow presented by Midwest SOARRING Foundation. All Are Welcome to attend. The event will feature Native American arts, crafts, and food, Native flute playing, men’s and women’s dance contests and dances, and drumming. 

Celebrate Indigenous People’s Day
Allen, TX
October 12, 2023

Chickasaw storyteller Amy Bluemel and area Native American dancers will present a program at 7:30 p.m. at the Allen Public Library in honor of Indigenous People’s Day. Amy Bluemel has performed at the Red Earth Festival, one of the rare events when dancers from America’s Northern and Southern tribes can be seen together in one venue. Various southeastern tribal members will perform some of the oldest dances performed on this continent, some estimated to be around 6,000 years old.

Native American Heritage Celebration of 2023
Springfield, MO
October 13-14, 2023

Come join a time to celebrate Indigenous culture with powwow dancing, presentations, storytelling, vendors, and many different options to learn from. All dancers are welcome to attend the event. 

Native American Storytelling by Chief White Winnebago
Chicago, IL
October 14, 2023

Come join and listen in on this presentation from Chief White Winnebago, who will tell five Native American stories, mostly of Ho-Chunk origin, for all ages. 

Land, Liberty & Loss
Syracuse, NY
October 14, 2023

The Erie Canal Museum, along with Humanities New York, presents “Land, Liberty and Loss,” an exploration of our nation’s founding and how its history often serves as an obstacle to full democratic and civic flourishing. The project is grounded in the historical and ongoing intersections between racial justice, including the centuries-long deprivations endured by Indigenous and Native Americans, and the evolution of the American landscape. 

Native American “Language is Life” 
Tucson, AZ
October 14, 2023

Celebrate the power of Native languages and the inspirational people who are saving them. Since time immemorial, indigenous peoples throughout the Americas have innovated ways to connect across generations, cultures, and continents. The event will be held at ENR2 (Environment and Natural Resources 2 Building). 

Native American Comedian Marc Yafee
Anchorage, AK
October 14, 2023

The Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 87 (Anchorage) is welcoming award-winning Native American comedian, actor and podcast host Marc Yaffee to perform at the midtown Anchorage Embassy Suites Hotel. Marc Yaffee’s diverse comedy career has landed him in 43 states and 11 countries spanning 4 continents. 

Honoring Our Youth: 2nd Annual Gourd Dance 
Phoenix, AZ
October 14, 2023

Join in for our 2nd Annual Phoenix Indian Center Gourd Dance & Social Powwow! The free event will be hosted at the Steele Indian School Park after the Native American Recognition Days Parade. Events start at 11 a.m. with Ground Dances at 11 a.m. & 5 p.m. and Grand Entry at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Shawnee Indian Mission Fall Festival 2023
Fairways, KS
October 14, 2023

The entire family can enjoy a full day of history, culture, activities, entertainment, arts and crafts, and enjoy local food at the Shawnee Indian Mission Fall Festival. Come join as there will also be a Night at the Mission, which will be limited in size and will feature a peek behind the scenes at the Mission.  

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We invite visitors to come with your questions every Thursday to meet a curator in the galleries to discuss works in the Black Artists of Oregon exhibition. This informal, one-on-one conversation-based offering is an opportunity to learn more about the artists, their work and the curatorial vision that shaped the exhibition.

On a quiet October day, with no cruise ships in port, Noah Boos stood looking at a sign right next to a kootéeyaa, or totem pole, on Juneau’s waterfront. The sign breaks down what each of the carved figures are — a bear with curved teeth and large formline eyes, an eagle with a face painted in red on its back, a killer whale with a fish in its mouth — and at the top, a Kaagwaantaan clan member.

“I love these signs,” he said. “(They) tell you a little bit about what the totems are all about.”

Boos said he’s been to Juneau before, but not since the kootéeyaa sprang up. He said he likes that cruise ship passengers can learn so much after getting off their boats. 

“First thing you’d see pretty much would be the totems and the signs,” he said.

This spring, Sealaska Heritage Institute installed 12 kootéeyaa along Juneau’s waterfront. They were carved by Lingít, Haida and Tsimshian artists from clans across the region. 

The organization put up storyboards in late September to educate visitors and protect the poles from mistreatment. 

“These are objects that are sacred for Lingít people,” said SHI’s Ricardo Worl. “And we hope that the storyboards will help people learn more about our history and how sacred these kootéeyaa are for us.”

Each storyboard has a diagram of the pole, with a breakdown of what each symbol is and the story the kootéeyaa tells. It also lists the artist, their clan and clan stories.

Early in the cruise season, pictures surfaced of tourists putting children in the large, brass hands of the Shangukeidí Kootéeyaa. Community members were frustrated with these and other examples of people mistreating and touching the poles.

Worl said SHI discussed erecting barriers to stop it, but decided not to. 

“We thought about that, putting verbiage on the storyboards: ‘Please don’t touch, these are sacred objects.’ But the more we thought about it, the more we believe that everyone in this community has a responsibility to educate our visitors,” he said. 

Worl said mistreatment of the kootéeyaa likely stems from a lack of understanding about what they mean to Alaska Native people. He said he wants non-Native residents and those in the tourism industry to speak up when people act inappropriately with the kootéeyaa. 

“For our visitors, this is an excellent opportunity to learn that this is more than art,” he said. 

The 12 poles are part of the Kootéeyaa Deiyí, or Totem Pole Trail. Eventually, SHI plans to install 30 poles total along the docks, many representing clans. 

The kootéeyaa will give Indigenous people keys to understanding their identities and their ancestors, he said. 

“They tell our history. They tell clan stories. They make connections from our ancestors to our current generations,” Worl said. “Our grandchildren will now be able to come and view the Kootéeyaa and confirm their identity to their ancestors and to their crests.”

Worl said SHI has the funding to commission one more kootéeyaa and is seeking funding for 17 more.

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The Toledo Museum of Art is hoping to open discussion about how we learn history, through an interactive exhibit and educational events.

The CopperFace United Native American Singers and Dancers performed at the museum for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Audience members watched the group as they went through traditional songs and dances, with intermissions explaining the tribal regalia and the significance of each dance.

Joshua Gibbs, the emcee of CopperFace United, explained that the group’s cultural performances are education-based.

“We do bring dancers, we do sing and we do drum,” Gibbs said. “But during those times in between, I try to get in a lot of education, because I’ve always been taught that it’s a whole lot better to educate instead of letting people come up with their own preconceived notions of things because if we tend to educate people that lends to understanding.”

One of the takeaways he hopes people will pass on is that America was built on Native land and that Indigenous people are still here in the United States.

Ohio is one of 16 states where Columbus Day is an official holiday

Indigenous art is featured in “Expanding horizons: The evolving character of a nation.”

Ohio is one of 16 states where Columbus Day is an official public holiday, according to the Pew Research Center.

Other states and cities have moved to replace the holiday with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, celebrating and acknowledging Native histories.

Gibbs appreciates the acknowledgement.

“[Columbus Day is] kind of a slap in the face to all of our indigenous peoples of the Americas. So being that changed over to us, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, is a win for us,” said Gibbs.

The Toledo Art Museum is acknowledging American history and how it is presented to the general public in its exhibition “Expanding horizons: The evolving character of a nation.”

“A lot of that is Indigenous work that is a part of that exhibition,” Jessica White, the programs and engagement manager at the Toledo Museum of Art, said. “So when we have folks come in here, it is very important to educate them. We could have a performance, but what do you take away from that, what do you take away from these works of art and learn about these artists.”

Erin Corrales-Diaz, the curator of the “Expanding Horizons” exhibit said it emphasizes Indigenous perspectives. Navajo weavings are on loan, and artists wrote the accompanying text and gave input on how to display the art.

In addition to examining overlooked histories, the exhibit also explores myths in American culture and history.

“Expanding Horizons” is open at the Toledo Art Museum until 2025.

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Copyright 2023 WTVG. All rights reserved.

Art Unbound

Black Artists of Oregon: Episode 5

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1:25:47

This is Art Unbound, a joint production of PAM and the Numberz FM. Featuring Intisar Abioto, the guest curator for the exhibition Black Artists of Oregon on view September 9, 2023 through March 17, 2024.

In this fifth installment of the series Intisar interviews Damali Ayo.

Produced by: The Numberz Podcast Network
Music by: King E.D.O.

Writer Ben Moser is used to writing about other people. The Houston native is known for his extensively researched biographies, such as the book he wrote about Susan Sontag in 2019 that won him the Pulitzer Prize.

But his latest work explores a certain part of his own biography.

In The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters, Moser reflects on the experience he had in his mid-20s when he left the United States for Holland.

There, he fell in love with Dutch painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer, and he tells Houston Matters producer Michael Hagerty how those encounters helped him build a life for himself there while helping him confront challenging questions about his craft as a young, aspiring writer who’d just moved to an unfamiliar country.

“I was kind of lost in a way,” Moser said. “I was trying to become a writer. I was trying to start this life. And I also had this whole burden of being a foreigner in this new country and didn’t speak the language and all that. And I found my connection to the country through the art and through the artists.”

Spending time learning about the lives and works of the great Dutch artists helped Moser not only learn about his new, adopted home country, but it also helped him make some realizations about himself as an aspiring writer.

One of the biggest takeaways was a reminder that every artist is only a human and starts from obscurity.

“Even really formidable artists — people like Rembrandt or Vermeer — turn out to be just people in a room like everybody else,” Moser said. “So, when you’re young, it’s kind of discouraging because you think, ‘Well, I’m not Rembrandt or Vermeer.’ But you think, ‘Well, they didn’t start out being Rembrandt or Vermeer either. So, I’m just going to try this. I’m going to just take a stab.’”

The book is a blend of immigration memoir and an artist’s reflection on finding his way to success in a creative pursuit. And it ends in Houston as Moser visits his home town and suddenly gains a new appreciation for the place that made him.

And, simultaneously as he takes in works by the Dutch masters at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, he recognizes what he learned from those formidable figures in that faraway place.

“If I hadn’t gone away, I couldn’t have learned what I did from them,” he said.

Fittingly, Moser will discuss the book at an event at the MFAH on Oct. 15, which is the opening day of the museum’s exhibition Rembrandt to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the Armand Hammer Collection.

MORE: What Ben Moser learned from Susan Sontag’s secret archives