Also visually striking is Northwest photographer Matika Wilbur’s long-awaited new book, Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America. It’s the culmination of Wilbur’s 10-year effort to travel the country and photograph members of each of the 562 (when she started) federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. 

Photographed in the clothing and location of the subject’s choosing, the resulting portraits are engaging, regal, endearing, poignant — but most of all diverse, as they refute stereotypes and project individuality. Wilbur celebrates the book release and her huge accomplishment tonight at Elliott Bay Books (April 29, 7 p.m.).

And for people like me who live to see Seattle on the big screen, there’s Filmlandia! A Movie Lover’s Guide to the Films and Television of Seattle, Portland and the Great Northwest. Written by former Seattleite David Schmader, the book dances deftly through a festival of NW films, from the obvious (Sleepless in Seattle) to the never-heard-of (Twice in a Lifetime? With Gene Hackman having a beer at The Dubliner??). 

Schmader offers clever plot synopses, sly reviews and (my favorite) points out exactly where different scenes were shot. Also helpful, he offers a sort of Northwest-o-meter. To wit, regarding 2009’s True Adolescents: “… plenty of Seattle totems, including the Comet Tavern, some Rainier Tall Boys, a Mariners name-check, and a sullen Mark Duplass in a knit hat, sadly eating a granola bar.”

A very funny public speaker, Schmader is doing a couple local book-launch events: at Scarecrow Video (April 29 at 2 p.m.) and at Third Place Books Seward Park (May 4 at 7 p.m.).

Related: Watch for the May 5 episode of Mossback’s Northwest, wherein Crosscut’s Knute Berger gives his own take on the long history of films shot in the region.

Lastly! For folks who enjoy independent movies not necessarily from the Northwest, three niche film festivals are about to get rolling: 

The National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), featuring films from directors age 24 and under (April 27 – 30 in-person, April 27 – May 7 online); the Cadence Video Poetry Festival at Northwest Film Forum (April 27 – 30 in-person, April 27 – May 7 online); and Translations: The Seattle Trans Film Festival (May 5 – 6 in-person, May 4 – 7 online). Happy screening. 

Arts and entertainment  |  UW Notebook

April 28, 2023

This week, listen to a leading voice in the women’s movement, watch the UW School of Drama’s student directed play “In The Blood”, attend the Indigenous Foods Symposium, and more.

May 1, 5:00 – 6:30 PM | UW Political Science Spring Faculty Panel “From Globalization to Deglobalization?”, Online

Free | More info and Registration

May 1, 6:30 PM | May Day: Women and Equality, Kane Hall & Recorded

Suggested Ticket Price $5 | More info and Registration

May 2, 7:00 – 9:30 PM & May 4, 7:00 – 8:30 PM | Stroum Lectures | The Sound of a World Within Worlds: Words, Music, Yiddish, and Culture, Kane Hall

For this year’s Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies, Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell, a classically trained and internationally acclaimed vocalist, composer and arranger specializing in music in the Yiddish language, will perform with accompanist Dmitri Gaskin. Through oration and art music, they will take us on a melodic journey through a variety of elements come together to shape Russell’s unique genre of Jewish musicality.

Free | More info and Registration

May 2 & May 4 | Transcultural Approaches to Europe: Specters of Sexual Liberation, Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre and Online

This lecture series and colloquium advance crucial conversations on world language and literature study on the UW Seattle campus through an interdisciplinary, multi-departmental speaker series focused on issues of race, identity, colonialism, and migration within a broad European context. These trans- or postnational, transcultural, and multilingual approaches to national literatures offer effective frameworks for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty to grasp the intersectional complexity of power configurations in literary and visual cultures.

Free | More info

May 3 – May 7 | Producing Artists Lab: In the Blood, Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre

The Producing Artist Laboratory is a recent development in the UW School of Drama’s production structure. Student-artists require many outlets to practice their craft from their first year to graduation. The Producing Artists Lab is an opportunity to share some of these exciting exploratory or developmental projects with the public. Audience members may see a wider range in the levels of production and often more vigorous artistic risk-taking in these Lab productions.

In the Blood was directed by graduate directing students Kate Drummond and Nick O’Leary. In this modern-day riff on The Scarlet Letter, a homeless mother of five lives with her kids on the tough streets of the inner city. Her eldest child is teaching her how to read and write, but the letter “A” is, so far, the only letter she knows. Her five kids are played by adult actors who double as five other people in her life. While Hester’s kids fill her life with joy—lovingly comical moments amid the harsh world of poverty—the adults with whom she comes into contact only hold her back.

Content Warning: The play contains mature subject matter and themes, including explicit language, violence, and sexual content.

$10 – $20 Tickets | More info and Tickets

May 4, 7:30 PM | Faculty Concert: Melia Watras, viola: NewDub, Meany Hall

Violist and composer Melia Watras presents a celebration of the viola with an evening of world premieres composed by UW faculty, students, and alumni. The program includes UW faculty composer Joël- François Durand’s Geister weider… pour alto solo (written for Watras), a collaborative composition by Watras and her former student Madeline Warner, and four pieces commissioned by Watras especially for this event, by UW students and alums Sandesh Nagaraj, Jonathan Rodriguez, Breana Tavaglione, and Wei Yang. Watras in joined onstage by vocalist Carrie Henneman Shaw and violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim.

$10 – $20 Tickets | More info and Tickets

May 5 – May 6 | “Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ” Indigenous Foods Symposium, Intellectual House

This symposium brings people together to share knowledge on topics such as traditional foods, plants and medicines; environmental and food justice; food sovereignty/security; health and wellness; and treaty rights. This event serves to foster dialogue and build collaborative networks as Native people strive to sustain cultural food practices and preserve healthy relationships with the land, water, and all living things.

This year’s theme is “Health, Healing & Resilience”.

Free for UW Students | More info and Registration

May 6, 7:30 PM | Los Angeles Master Chorale: Lagrime di San Pietro, Meany Hall

From visionary theater and opera director Peter Sellars comes his most personal work to date, a staging of Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro (The Tears of Saint Peter). This profoundly moving Renaissance masterpiece depicts the grief and remorse of the Apostle Peter after he disavows knowledge of Jesus Christ on the day of his arrest and crucifixion. Sung by 21 a cappella singers of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lagrime is refracted through Mr. Sellars signature contemporary lens, suggesting a powerful allegory about facing our past head-on in order to forge a more fulfilling future.

Free | More info

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu).

Tag(s): Department of American Ethnic Studies • Department of American Indian Studies • Department of French & Italian Studies • Department of Geography • Department of Germanics • Department of Political Science • Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies • Jackson School of International Studies • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Drama • School of Social Work • Simpson Center for the Humanities • Southeast Asia Center • Stroum Center for Jewish Studies • West Coast Poverty Center

Please share with Great Plains artists far and wide! This juried Indigenous art show and cultural celebration is a free annual event in the heart of downtown Rapid City, and will take place July 07- 09th, 2023 at Main Street Square.

2023 VISUAL ARTIST APPLICATION – https://artsrapidcity.wufoo.com/forms/native-pop-2023-visual-artist-application/

TWO EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENTS!

Native POP and Main Street Square have partnered and Native POP is now a SIGNATURE EVENT! We appreciate our community members who support the arts along with us! Also new this year, we have….

INDOOR BOOTH SPACE!

We are offering an indoor option onsite at Main Street Square for TEN spaces. There is a lovely new gathering area inside Main Street Square. We are reserving these spaces for artists who may have health concerns. Artists may request a reservation through the application process.

In accordance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, participation in the Native POP art show is only open to enrolled members of federally recognized tribes, with preference given to artists from Great Plains Tribes.

• Application closes tomorrow- April 28, 2023

• Selected applicants will be notified by May 1, 2023.

• Waitlisted applicants will be notified May 10, 2023.

• Booth fee for space due June 1, 2023.

• Lunch and water provided for the artist each day.

• No commission will be taken of your sales.

Artist divisions have been updated, so please read carefully to select your division.

This year’s event times:

Friday night opening event 5:30pm – 8pm with juried awards totally $18,500 in prizes.

Saturday Art Market: 9am – 4pm

Sunday Art Market: 9am – 4pm

Please read the full application information and Statement of Agreement and Understanding before applying. If you have any questions about the application process, please email info@nativepop.org

We welcome you and hope to see you all to visit, honor, and celebrate art, culture and each other! We have a beautiful weekend planned for everyone to come and enjoy!

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

HELSINKI — A new exhibition showing the works of Touko Laaksonen, better known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland, adds a personal touch to the late Finnish artist whose homoerotic drawings of muscular men gained a following in the gay community from the 1950s.

“Tom of Finland — Bold Journey,” which opens Friday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, features Laaksonen’s drawings, archive material, personal clothing items as well as memorabilia, letters, publications, magazines and films.

Laaksonen’s cheerful, sexually explicit works made an impact in the art world at a time when homosexuality was illegal or classified as a disease in countries around the world, including his native Finland. The Nordic country has since embraced the artist, who died in 1991, as a national icon.

“Tom is one of our national heroes who deserves to be seen as one of the most well-known Finnish artists of the 20th century,” said Kiasma museum director Leevi Haapala.

He said Tom of Finland had emerged as one of the country’s best known pop culture brands, along with the Moomins, the comic strip characters created by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson.

“His art has been liberating and empowering for countless gay men and sexual minorities for decades,” the museum said in a statement.

The chiseled male characters depicted by Laaksonen, including lumberjacks, bikers, sailors, soldiers and policemen, “exude vitality, joy and pride,” Kiasma said.

The retrospective of Laaksonen’s works is compiled by the Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles and the Kiasma museum, which is part of the Finnish National Gallery. It is the largest exhibit of his works ever shown in his native country.

“There are sort of two different men; Touko had his own biography and Tom had his own biography, and they sort of paralleled,” said Durk Dehner, the president and co-founder of the Tom of Finland Foundation.

Haapala said Laaksonen’s works had directly influenced several well-known artists like Robert Mapplethorpe, Bruce Weber and David Hockney, and may have even inspired music acts like the Village People.

In Finland, his art is now embraced far beyond the gay community.

“In this polarized time, I think we need iconic figures like Tom to remind us of tolerance,” he said.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 29.

Details

By Native News Online Staff

April 27, 2023

The 2023 Native Lab will be held online May 1–5 and continues from May 8–13 in person in Santa Fe, N.M.

Participating artists will enhance their storytelling and technical skills, including one-on-one feedback sessions with advisors and roundtable discussions, where they will also explore indigenizing their creative practices.  

“One of the core tenets for us in the Indigenous Program is that we support a broad spectrum of Indigenous storytelling – our cohort of five Native Lab Fellows and the projects they’re bringing to Santa Fe demonstrate that commitment to supporting diverse narratives and approaches,” said Adam Piron, Director of Indigenous Programs. “We’re looking forward to seeing where those different global and tribal perspectives the Fellows bring to the table will help them as they enrich each other and themselves, and I’m so pleased to have our Creative Advisors on hand to participate in this process of collaborative discovery.”

Also attending will be Artist in Residence Taylor Hensel (Cherokee Nation), auditing the lab while in script development. 

According to a statement from the Sundance Institute, experienced advisors are an instrumental part of the Lab. The Native Lab Creative Advisors include Andrew Ahn, Alex Lazarowich (Cree), Dana Ledoux Miller (Sāmoan), and Jennifer Reeder. 

The Native Lab is overseen by Adam Piron, Director of the Institute’s Indigenous Program (Kiowa and Mohawk), and Ianeta Le’i, the Program’s Senior Manager.

  The five participating fellows and their projects include:

• Eva Grant (director/writer) with Degrees of Separation (Canada): In this smart and stylish ensemble comedy, Indigenous Ph.D. student Delphine plans a daring heist to return Ancestral remains to her tribe. But first, she and her team must outsmart the White Saviours and Collectors who have arrived in the community like vultures, ready to pick the bones clean.Eva Grantis a bilingual filmmaker of mixed St’at’imc Indigenous, Asian, and European heritage. She is currently a Vancouver Queer Film Festival Disruptor Fellow and an Artist in Residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario. A former E20 screenwriter, she studied literature and philosophy at Stanford University.

• Quinne Larsen (writer) with Trouble (U.S.A.): Five people living in an abandoned desert motel try to put their world (and their giant robot) together from scraps.Quinne Larsen is a Chinook writer and cartoonist in Los Angeles (Tongva territory). They’ve worked on shows at Sony Pictures, Cartoon Network, Disney T.V.A., and Netflix. They’re currently working on an original graphic novel for First Second.

• Anpa’o Locke(writer) with Growing Pains (U.S.A.): Kawá, an urban Native teen, and her mother, Elizabeth, a relocated rezzer, return to their hometown in South Dakota after Elizabeth is hired as the new Lakota teacher at the reservation high school; Kawá navigates friendship, queerness, and belonging on the reservation.Anpa’o Locke is a Hunkpapha Lakota and Ahtna Dené writer, filmmaker, and curator from the Standing Rock Nation. She was a 2022 Sundance Indigenous Fellow focused on Native diaspora experience and self-determination in filmmaking. She holds a B.A. in Film Studies from Mount Holyoke College and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

• Jana Schmieding(writer/producer/actor) with Auntie Chuck (U.S.A.): A rezzy spinster must find her inner auntie when she’s tasked with taking care of her siblings for two weeks.

  J

  ana Schmiedingwrote on and co-starred in Rutherford Falls and is known for her comedic roles on Reservation Dogs, The Great North, and Spirit Rangers. A Lakota woman, Jana is making her mark on the entertainment industry as an actor, writer, and producer, bringing Native stories to mainstream audiences.

• Cian Elyse White (director/writer) with Te Puhi’ (New Zealand, United Kingdom): Aotearoa, 1962. 19-year-old Te Puhi claims international fame overnight when she is crowned Miss New Zealand – the first Māori to win the title. Torn between duty and her dreams, Te Puhi navigates the disconnect from home when she moves to London against her family’s wishes. 

  Cian Elyse White(she/her) is a Te Arawa, Ngāti Pikiao/ Ngāti Te Tākinga, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou (Te Whānau a Ruataupare, Te Whānau a Hinetāpora), Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, Tainui writer, director and actress born in Rotorua, New Zealand. Cian has written scripts for stage and screen, including Kōtiro (Daddy’s Girl), PIIKSI/HUIA, and Te Puhi (in development). In 2022, Cian won the award for ‘Outstanding Newcomer’ at the Women in Film & Television awards, N.Z.

Previous Sundance Institute Native Lab Fellows include award-winning filmmakers Sterlin Harjo, Sky Hopinka, Shaandiin Tome, Erica Tremblay, and Taika Waititi. 

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News of May 2022’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde hit close to home for Alina De Leon. The 26-year-old UTSA fine arts major was born in Uvalde and had attended Robb. So when she was invited to participate in Uvalde artist (and UTSA alumnus) Abel Ortiz’s “Healing Uvalde” series of 21 public murals in honor of the 19 students and two teachers who were killed, she jumped at the chance. 

A printmaker first, De Leon was paired with San Antonio–based professional muralist Cristina Noriega to create a mural for Amerie Jo Garza, a 10-year-old shooting victim who was herself a budding artist. The artists learned from the Garza family that Amerie was the type of girl who protected others from bullies without hesitation. She also loved to play, loved art and was fond of the color lavender. 

“They gave us words of encouragement and told us a lot of stories about Amerie—what she was like as a kid, and what she got to experience,” De Leon says.

They used a photo of Amerie as the foundation for their work and then included her favorite color and flowers, painting for more than 30 hours. De Leon also contributed to a public mural in town by San Antonio artist Michael Sanchez, featuring 21 doves on a blue background. 

The experience has continued to shape De Leon and inspire her artistic trajectory. In one screenprint, titled “Nopal de Dolor,” she created a cactus with clippings from articles about the shooting, using thorns to represent the pain and strength of the community. And for a final project for her painting class, she drew a fence with the shadows of children who were killed. 

As a professional, the UTSA senior says she wants her art to continue to have an impact and to make people feel something. 

“There’s been a lot of mass shootings—Parkland, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas and Uvalde,” she says. “Hopefully when onlookers see the art, it will inspire them to see that they can help, too … it can help everyone realize that people who are involved in mass shootings are not alone. There’s a community, there’s a community for healing.” 

May 2 reception will kick off shows

In recognition of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the City of Bellevue is hosting two free exhibits during the month of May, one showcasing diverse artworks from a variety of AANHPI artists and another highlighting the role of Chinese immigrants in the history of the first transcontinental railroad.

To kick off AANHPI Heritage Month and the exhibits, the city will hold a reception Tuesday, May 2, 5-7 p.m. at City Hall, with remarks from city leaders and light refreshments. Registration is required.

The AANHPI art exhibit, a philanthropic collaboration with MG2 Foundation’s executive director, Jerry Quinn Lee, will feature more than a dozen multimedia pieces centering on the voices and experiences of the AANHPI community. The cross-cultural collection is open to the public at no cost in the first- and second-floor concourses at City Hall May 1-26 (event flyer).

The city will also honor the contributions of Chinese railroad workers through a partnership with the Chinese American Civic Association. The exhibit, “Applaud to the Chinese Transcontinental Railroad Workers,” features 60 bilingual educational panels depicting how an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants built the most challenging part of America’s first transcontinental railroad in the 1860s. The panels will be on display in the first-floor concourse at City Hall May 15-19 (event flyer).

Exhibit hours are Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m., and Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Recognition of AANHPI Heritage Month will also include a proclamation read at the May 1 City Council meeting.

For alternate formats, interpreters, or reasonable accommodation requests please phone at least 48 hours in advance 425-452-7881 (voice) or email diversity@bellevuewa.gov. For complaints regarding accommodations, contact the city’s ADA/Title VI administrator at 425-452-6168 (voice). If you are deaf or hard of hearing dial 711.

For the last decade, Christopher Mike-Bidtah (Diné) who goes by the stage name Def-i, has been hosting the annual Gathering of MCs where Native hip-hop artists gather in community to perform and spread encouraging messages for listeners.

Def-i has been a vital part of the New Mexican hip-hop community, at one point co-hosting New Mexico’s longest running hip-hop weekly event, “Vinyl & Verse” with the late Wake Self. During Gathering of Nations in 2011, an unrelated event saw an influx of Native emcees, some who didn’t get a chance to perform. Def-i created a last minute event—the inaugural Gathering of MCs—co-hosted by MC/DJ Speed One to showcase Native hip-hop. 

“At the beginning, we were hoping for it to be inter-tribal in a way that’s all inclusive, that anybody can be a part of. Not just Natives or Indigenous emcees, but just anybody could get down. That was the basic idea—for it to feel like a global community over time.”

He describes the arrival of Native peoples for Gathering weekend as a “resurgence,” where Albuquerque transforms into a mecca for Indigenous artists, creatives and communities.

A$h Da Hunter (Yavapai/Apache) is on the lineup for this year’s Gathering of MCs. She began rapping towards the end of 2017.

More than just a powwow

“I was in a relationship that put me into a hospital. When I left, I was really angry and I wrote a diss track about my ex-boyfriend,” she said.

She liked her sound, and the rest is history. Her first performance took place at Gathering of MCs in 2022, and she’s been on the rise since. In February, she was featured on Mato Wayuhi’s (Oglala Lakota) latest single, “Stankface,” and performed it alongside the “Reservation Dogs” composer at an NBA halftime show for the Phoenix Suns.

Her latest album, “Playing With Prey,” released in March. 

A$h is looking forward to meeting new people and wholeheartedly admits that she’s most excited for the crowd’s reaction to her music. She entered her first Gathering of MCs unsure if she had what it took to be a performer, but now she’s returning to broaden her horizons and audience.

For up-and-coming Native artists, her advice is simple — don’t get caught up in competing with your relatives, “stop and uplift each other.”

As for newcomers, this weekend will be the first time August Remedy performs in Albuquerque. Joshua Long (Diné), Kylie Jim (Diné) and Dylan Jim (Diné), all from Flagstaff, Arizona, will be performing Saturday evening at Native Guitars Tour “The Main Event.” They’re excited to meet other Native musicians off the screen and in-person.

About their name, Long explains, “We landed on ‘August’ because that’s the month we were in. Then ‘Remedy’ because we all came from church and we like the idea of hope and encouragement behind all the songs that we want to sing.” 

Kylie Jim describes their music as an upbeat “alternative vibe” with acoustic elements. 

Their new single “Remember to Breathe” will be released April 28. 

The band recounts all the obligations they have outside of their musical endeavors. 

“Time’s not forgiving or easy on us.” Long says. 

August Remedy has primarily performed in Native spaces, and the band comments on how their audiences often need some kind of hope. “I fell into depression and loneliness and for me, I just needed someone to tell me it was going to be okay. I think that’s what our songs carry—a sense of purpose, hope and encouragement.” 

Heart Museum, a “melodic hardcore” band, will also be playing their first Gathering weekend gig during the Merciless Metal Savages event at the El Rey Theater on Friday, April 28. 

Band leader Toni Heartless (Diné/Choctaw) is no stranger to the Native music scene hosting and collaborating on community music events in Shiprock for years.

“It’s not until this year that we’ve been considered a Native band. That might be because of our members being mixed, like me, being half-Filipino.”

Heart Museum’s recent EP “Relentless” reflects the band’s take on resilience. “I wanted it to be unapologetic. We’re not going to stop. We’re relentless. It’s the first time I spoke on any Indigenous topics because at the end of the day we are a Native band, but we don’t talk about a lot of that stuff, really. We talk about the environment we were raised in and the reality that we perceive.” 

Toni credits the punk community for raising him and that’s why he’s so dedicated to the music. “There’s nothing that means more to me, than someone telling me how my music has helped them. That’s exactly why I do this.”

Last but not least, One Way Sky is an indie rock band from southern Arizona composed of four members: Adrian Thomas (Gila River Indian Community), Cody Bruguier (Tohono O’odham), Loma Manuel (Gila River Indian Community) and Damien Carlos (Tohono O’odham). 

This is the band’s second time performing during Gathering and they’re excited about the networking opportunities, the chance to “take a little drive,” and to showcase how their sound has improved since last year. 

Bruguier recounts, “Back then, it was kinda tough for us to jam because I lived on one reservation and Adrian lived on a different reservation. But he always made that sacrifice to come get me and take me back to his place to jam and then to play shows.” He quietly but proudly affirms they’re sounding really good lately.

The four young men are thankful for the opportunity and looking forward to meeting more Native musicians. Carlos adds that he thinks every event where Native peoples get to gather in community is special given the history of Indigenous peoples.

“The stuff we all went through to even still exist here? It’s almost like a miracle that we’re still here. So any chance we get to come together, it’s a good feeling. It’s an honor to get to play music at these kinds of places.” 

On Friday, April 21, Clemson partnered with Cherokee artists for the first-ever Indigenous Annotations Lab Spring Symposium. The symposium included the artist talk event where Cherokee artists Skye Tafoya, Jakeli Swimmer and Jamison Chas Banks discussed their art and gave readings.

“When I enter rooms, I see patterns; that’s where artistically I bring things from. I look at a space, and I’m able to see lines. And when I see a landscape, I see things that have a sense of belonging to my experiences,” Tafoya shared with the audience when discussing the art of basketry.

“I don’t feel too much of a connection to them because I see it so often, and I see it through tattoos, and I see it through people who don’t even have basketry in their family or understand what it takes to make a basket or what it takes to harvest to make a basket, and so with my own design work I want to be able to connect personally with all of the things I make,” Tafoya stated when asked about deviating from traditional designs.

“For me, I can be academic sometimes and write and write and write, and it takes a lot to sensitize an idea and get it out there, but then when you’re writing things in that academic sense, you’re excluding the people that you’re trying to talk for and what cartooning does for me is allow that imagery to speak more than words can. It’s a reflection of what you see,” Swimmer, a cartoonist, shared.

While discussing creating a positive learning environment, especially through Native collaboration, Banks discussed his previous project with another contemporary artist where he created a space “treated like a sanctuary.” The sanctuary was filled with flowers, plants and screen-printed scrolls and was open to the public.

“It’s an offering. We’re not asking for anything in return. There is nothing required of you but to participate. I like to focus more on not what can be seen, but what can be felt,” Banks states.

Friday’s events were organized by Clemson faculty, Matt Hooley and Santee Frazier of the English department, and Kelsey Sheaffer from the library.