Solana Beach’s Exclusive Collections Gallery (EC Gallery) is making the move from the Cedros Design District to downtown’s Gaslamp District—Gallerist Ruth-Ann Thorn is set to open her new location on Fifth Street on May 5.

Thorn has owned EC Gallery for 28 years in San Diego in multiple locations. She originally opened the gallery in Carlsbad in 1995, then opened galleries in La Jolla, Fashion Valley, the Gaslamp and Seaport Village before moving up to Solana Beach in 2018. EC Gallery was founded on the premise that the “Art of Discovery” is for everyone.

“I always wanted to have a gallery on Cedros so it was a dream,” she said. “I think Cedros is one of the gems of San Diego.”

Going back downtown is a little like coming full circle but it will be hard to leave beautiful Solana Beach and its loyal locals behind—she plans to remain in Solana Beach through October and then see what happens; she still may pursue another North County location.

With the new gallery, she is taking over a historic building at the corner of Fifth and Market, the original home for both Z Gallerie and Lucky Brand. EC Gallery will showcase a stable of over 25 nationally and internationally known artists with individual and group shows throughout the year.

Thorn expects the downtown gallery will likely see more tourists than the Cedros location and while North County collectors were a little more traditional in their tastes, she said with the new gallery she will have the opportunity to feature some more contemporary works.

The new Exclusive Collections Gallery in the Gaslamp.

(Jens Feil)

Thorn, a member of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians who lives on the Ricon reservation in Valley Center, is also a passionate advocate for Native American artists.

Around the country she works as a cultural liaison for Native American tribes, making sure tribes are appropriately represented in artwork, design and architecture. She is also a filmmaker—her docuseries on the First Nations Experience (FNX) network spotlights Native American artists from all over America.

Every year, she does a big show at EC Collective solely focused on Native American art.
“I’m hoping to see more representation of native people and local tribes in San Diego,” said Thorn.

Being back downtown, Thorn is excited to be a part of exciting things happening in the Gaslamp, including the Gaslamp Promenade, a mission to reinvent Fifth Avenue and make it more pedestrian friendly. Plans are for Fifth Avenue to be closed to all car traffic every day from 11 a.m. to around midnight, from K Street up to Broadway. The new EC Gallery will be at the heart of it.

For now, she is just looking forward to getting the doors open in her new space, planning to host a grand opening celebration possibly in August.

The new gallery is located at 621 5th Avenue. Visit ecgallery.com/

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In conjunction with the First on Fifth in East Liverpool, the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning Center at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame will host an art exhibit featuring the work of comic book artist Dan Adkins. Adkins, a native of East Liverpool, was a versatile talent. From 1965-2013, he wrote, penciled and inked for Marvel Comics, Gold Key/Western Publishing, Warren Publishing, DC and Tower Comics. He worked as a penciler and inker in 816 comic books, inked for over 70 artists and drew 132 covers for Marvel Comics alone. For his achievements, he was inducted into the Inkwell Hall of Fame. Samples of his comic books, boards, books and original paintings will be on display on Friday, May 5 and will be available for viewing during regular museum hours Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 120 E. Fifth St., East Liverpool.

Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will open a new exhibit celebrating the rich traditions and real-life experiences of Alaska Native female artists during First Friday this week.

The exhibit, Native Women’s Art: Drawn From the Spirits of Ancestors Within, features nearly 60 works by 56 artists from Alaska’s major Indigenous groups, including the Alutiiq, Athabaskan, Inupiat, Yupik, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian.

Most of the pieces were made by contemporary artists, while a few represent old masters whose pieces exist in SHI’s ethnographic collection.
Through the show, SHI is honoring the ingenuity and strength of Alaska Native women who continue to create and innovate. Their achievements continue despite centuries of colonization, oppression and unprecedented times, wrote guest curator Alison Bremner, an award-winning Tlingit artist.

“From the earring boom on Instagram to contemporary collage to traditional weavings, we invite visitors to consider the powerful perspectives presented in each piece. These select pieces offer a representation of the mastery, discipline and commitment that exist within our villages and communities,” Bremner wrote.

SHI’s representation of Alaska Native women statewide is part of its goal to promote cross-cultural understanding, said SHI President Rosita Worl, noting the institute this month also unveiled its new installation, Faces of Alaska, which honors the state’s major Indigenous groups.

“Alaska Native women have helped carry our Indigenous groups’ origin stories, histories and traditional knowledge for thousands of years through ancient art practices,” Worl said. “Through the exhibit, we wanted to honor Alaska’s Indigenous female artists by holding up the mastery of their work for all to see.”

Alaska is home to many more Native artists than those who are featured in the exhibit.

The exhibit opens at 4:30 pm, Friday, May 5, and will run through Dec. 1, 2023. There is no charge to see the exhibit on First Friday.

Spirit Runners will end 3,200 mile journey at Run with the Sun Music Festival on June 16-17.

Native Game Designer from CDA Tribe Incorporates His Culture and Computer Skills into Art

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News Story by Matthew Kincanon

Randall Schleufer, an artist and citizen of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, has not only been creating art that reflects his Indigenous heritage, but he’s also been designing video games since he was young.

Computers weren’t a common household appliance when Schleufer was growing up. Cell phones and the internet weren’t common in the 1980s either. Still, he got into video games through playing Pong on the Atari console as a kid and wanted to develop games.

Becoming a Game Developer Had Its Challenges

However, he said there was not a path to directly become a game developer because classes didn’t exist.

When he was 15-years-old, he bought his first computer and started programming his first games.

“They were really bad games, they weren’t good at all,” he said laughing about it. “But it was my start.”

When he got into college, there was still no way of teaching video games because he said computer science wasn’t really a subject. So he went into graphic design, instead, and learned design for print media.

Once the internet arrived on the scene, Schluefer said it opened up more opportunities for him. He used his graphic design skills to start making webpages.

“Once I was developing [webpages] I was like ‘I remember doing video games, I can probably program some video games’,” he said. “So I messed around with some code with some really old games and started making new graphics for them and swapping things out. That’s how I kind of learned, myself, how to become a game developer.”

His dedication to game development eventually led him to working on games for Nickelodeon, Disney and Niantic (the company who developed Pokemon GO). He has been working with Niantic for around five years.

Translating Game-Designing Skills and Indigenous Heritage into Art

Schleufer continues to create art projects that incorporate his Indigenous heritage and culture while using his skills gained from working with video games.

One of his recent projects was the mural he painted at Gonzaga Family Haven, titled “The Language Wall.” It features several different animals including a buffalo, horse, dog, fish, turtle and others.

The inspiration for the mural stemmed from what Randall was taught during his first year at the Salish School of Spokane. He recently became a Salish language teacher himself.

“So the entire wall is basically just all different animals that we usually learn in our first year of language in the Salish program,” he said.

The Mural’s Beginnings

The project started after Gonzaga Family Haven wanted to incorporate Indigenous influence into the building and asked the Salish School of Spokane to translate some of the signs in and around the building. This included the exit signs and offices. The organization then asked for an artist to provide some artwork, which led to Schleufer meeting Peggy Haun-McEwen, director of community at the organization, in the Spring of 2021.

Both of them discussed for several months about what they wanted to create for the project and Schleufer got Native artists Emma Noyes (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), Danica Parkin (Sinixt) and Stef Reuben Marchand (Sinixt) involved to propose pieces along with his creation.

“As the project unfolded, it led to many deep conversations about the pain and relationship of the Catholic church and local Native residents,” Haun-McEwen said. “It was something that moved me deeply, and Randall shared that the focus of the work is a theme of healing, which is perfect for this space for our residents.”

The proposed mural was then moved from being part of the Reflection Space to taking over the entire wall of the Community room. This wall is now referred to as the “River Room” due to what Schleufer taught them about the importance of the river, she said.

“I just absolutely love this space, it’s home to me,” Schleufer said. “I come in here, and I feel so comfortable. It’s just beautiful.”

Eventually, there will be painted Salish words on the wall, Schleufer said, so people can try to read it.

Art with a QR Code

Schleufer incorporated his game development skills in a QR code that people can scan on their phones that shows them the images and says the Salish word for them.

“I love when our kids at Gonzaga Family Haven come in and we use the QR code, and I hear them repeating the words to the animals or the counting pictures on the wall,” Haun-McEwen said. “The Salish School of Spokane (and Randall) are passionate about keeping the Salish language alive, and we have proof of that on our wall and it is a great conversation starter every time we have visitors to our site.”

When people see the mural, Schleufer wants people to know that he and Indigenous people are still here and are still relevant.

‘We’re Still Here’

“We really are here with a presence in trying to honor our Native traditions, who we are, reconcile the loss of our language and culture and trying to regain that back, and what do we do with trying to teach our children these things,” he said. “There’s this whole huge thing about us that a lot of people don’t know, and it really just boils down to we’re still here, and we’re trying to do everything we can to make sure that we stay here.”

For Native youths who want to get into video game development, Schleufer said he would like to go to the reservations and speak with kids one-on-one about careers in video games.

His advice to them is to not worry about the details of making a perfect game. Just make a game; even if it’s poorly made. He added that they should keep working on it. Start small and make a bunch of games that may not work, learning along the way, and this will build onto something bigger and better.

Matthew Kincanon is a former Digital Content Producer with a journalism and political science degree from Gonzaga University. His journalism experience includes the Gonzaga Bulletin, The Spokesman-Review, Art Chowder magazine and SpokaneFāVS. He said he is excited to be a freelancer at SpokaneFāVS because, as a Spokane native, he wants to learn more about the various religious communities and cultures in his hometown.

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When news broke last December that a local artist had been posing as Indigenous — and profiting from those lies — it felt like a betrayal to many in the arts community. To some, media coverage of the controversy seemed to target the very people who were most vulnerable.

“Frustrating for myself, and talking with other Indigenous people … it felt almost like an attack on the community, putting blame on the Indigenous community,” said Dakota Mace, a Diné artist in Madison and 2019 recipient of the Forward Art Prize.

“The media was targeting individuals and not talking to the Indigenous communities that are based here in Wisconsin.”

Mace’s desire to re-center the narrative on supporting Indigenous artists led to the first Native Art Market, organized by Mace and Paige Skenandore, a member of the Oneida Nation and a recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate.

The market, featuring 17 artists from nine tribes, will have a preview showcase on Friday night. (This is at the same time as the citywide Gallery Night, though not officially part of that event.) The full market runs Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

There will be art for sale and demonstrations of beadwork and quill work. All events are at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston St.  

“What really inspired this market was to show that Madison can still support the community that we have here,” Mace said. “But also really showcase the importance of our ways of making.

“For myself, it’s always been (about) supporting the community that’s supported me, and to give back … to support these artists and support the work that they create. For many Indigenous people, making is part of sustaining ourselves.”

Beadwork and cultural education

Mace keeps a studio on the third floor of the Arts + Lit Lab and is well-established as an textile artist, photographer and educator in Madison. She earned two master’s of fine arts degrees in photography and textile design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she now works as an object photographer for the Department of Design Studies.

Like many artists, Mace wears many hats. She serves as an MFA mentor and advisor for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. She’s represented by Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York City.

Mace met Skenandore last fall at an “EcoWell” event funded by the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology, focused on Indigenous beading. That was held at ALL, too.

“We had five artists, from all different tribes in Wisconsin, Menominee, and Little Shell (Chippewa),” said Skenandore, who grew up on the Oneida Reservation and began to learn beadwork in middle school.

“We allowed them to sell stuff if they wanted to, but it wasn’t like we were pushing for them to make a big inventory,” Skenandore said. “We wanted to just be in community and show current projects that they were working on, or how to do different styles.”

Skenandore gave a beading workshop to about 50 people, teaching them how to make medallion earrings and keychains. And Mace, working through Design Studies, taught a workshop on cultural appropriation. It’s a complex topic, she said, so facilitators allow for lots of questions.

“Oftentimes the idea of cultural appropriation gets misinterpreted,” she said.

“People think they can’t wear Native jewelry,” Skenandore added. “You just have to buy from Native artists that are true.”

“Exactly,” Mace said. “That’s our model in the workshop. We allow students to ask questions, to ask themselves about things. Hopefully that leads to a better future in terms of people being inspired by different communities and cultures.”

“Just interacting with Indigenous art, some people don’t know if they can touch it, or take a picture of it, or even use it as inspiration,” Skenandore said. “It’s very dependent on the artist.”

Skenandore has spent time since her graduation continuing to make art, teaching when she has the opportunity in spaces like the Madison Public Library and the school district in Tomah, and developing her business, a collective called Moody Indian (moodyndn.com).

Among the artists who are scheduled to set up at the market are members of the Ho-Chunk nation, Oneida, Cherokee, Menomonee and Taos Pueblo artists. Mace, who grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is organizing a shared table of work by Southwest artists.

Skenandore is looking forward to the variety that will be on display.

“It’s all different for every tribe — beadwork and pottery and paintings and photography,” she said. “There are a lot of non-Native people who really want to support Indigenous artists.

“At a lot of Native art markets, when you buy something, they give you a story with that piece, why they did that design or those colors.”

The first of many

There is already a second Native Art Market planned for this fall, and Mace hopes it will become a regular event. She wants to address the most exploitative practices of art markets, which “historically have not been very supportive of artists,” charging “absurd fees” and requiring expensive travel with no guarantee of sales.

The Native Art Market, by contrast, has provided support in the form of stipends (an assist from UW-Madison) and free or reduced housing for participants.

“Indigenous art markets have really taken advantage of Indigenous people,” Mace said. “I’m hoping that we continue to build even more support for this market … not only from the Madison community, but Wisconsin.”

That’s the goal, she said — “showcasing the importance of Indigenous arts, and how much it’s deeply connected to not only our identity, but also this larger conversation about community.”

Presented by The Torch, Confined is an annual exhibition of artworks from Indigenous artists currently in or recently released from prisons in Victoria. The 14th exhibition, which coincides with National Reconciliation Week, will be on display at the Glen Eira Town Hall Gallery for four weeks from Friday 5 May 2023.

With a record 473 artworks from 402 artists from across Victoria, this collection of works is a strong visual metaphor for the continuing over-representation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system.

232 in-prison artists and 170 in-community artists are represented in Confined 14, many at different stages of their practice – from the 57 artists looking to make their first sale at the exhibition to established artists who are completing large scale public commissions and projects.

An extraordinary range of paintings, 410 in total, and 63 three-dimensional works across different mediums including hand-woven rugs and baskets, carved emu eggs, a terracotta wombat and a range of ceramics including Sean Miller’s work Galibaay on Country that was shortlisted for the 2022 Indigenous Ceramic Award (and won South-East Australian Aboriginal Artist Prize of $5,000), hand-carved wooden sculptures from native cyprus and silk scarves dyed from natural materials found in Gariwerd.

For the first time, The Torch is presenting a satellite exhibition in Gallery 2 called In the Torchlight, which this year gives additional space and an expanded voice to In-Community women artists who are pursuing their cultural practice post-release. Set to become an annual event, this year’s presentation feature bodies of work by Heather Shawe, Melissa Bell, Sonia Singh, Veronica Hudson and Thelma Beeton.

All artworks are available for purchase from the gallery and online with 100% of the sales going to the artist. For participants, the creation and sale of their artworks is part of the rehabilitation process that helps build confidence, social capital, economic stability and pathways to reconnect with the community.

In 2022, The Torch sold and licensed over $1.1million dollars’ worth of artworks for First Nations men and women participating in The Torch’s Indigenous Arts in Prisons and community program. Over 600 Indigenous men and women are currently connected to The Torch program.

Income earned from the program provides participants with the ability to realise their potential and change their circumstances while in prison and when connecting back to the community. Participants are able to provide approved support to their families on the outside, increasing stability and helping to alleviate ongoing socio-economic disadvantage.

Participants are also able to stand more confidently on their own two feet and avoid common pitfalls upon release from prison such as finding and maintaining affordable and safe accommodation. This decreases recidivism and opens new pathways towards education and employment with many positive intergenerational impacts.

The knowledge and experiences of Community Elders and those participating in the program continues to define the program’s design and delivery. Employment of men and women from the program to work on all aspects, including going back into prison to support others, has been significant to the program’s ongoing success.

The Torch now employs 23 permanent staff, 13 are First Nations men and women – six of whom have transitioned through the in-prison and in-community programs to now work at The Torch.

“The Torch program was built upon the foundation of Indigenous knowledges, philosophies and support processes that have been developed, taught and embraced for generations,” said Kent Morris, The Torch CEO.

“It shows that Indigenous led and delivered solutions to some of the ongoing issues caused by systemic over incarceration can be addressed successfully if driven by the Indigenous community.”

The Torch presents Confined 14 at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery from Thursday 5 May to Sunday June 4 2023. For more information, visit: www.thetorch.org.au for details.

Image: Emily Toulson, My Path Travelled and Future Paths Made, 2022 – courtesy of The Torch