Coming full circle as Oglala Lakota Art Space Program Manager

We need creativity now more than ever.

Charlie N. Cuny (Oglala Lakota) comes from the Sunkawakan Mahpiya (Cloud Horse) and Zuya Niskala (Little Warrior) Bands in the Medicine Root district. Charlie is an alumna of the Institute of American Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM where she obtained a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts. She has been immersed with Lakota culture and language her entire life which contributes to her journey. This influences her to incorporate traditional Lakota teachings into her modern artwork and fashion. Charlie resides on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where she raises her twin boys and aspires to promote Lakota culture through an artistic lens. 

Háŋ Mitákuyepi, Čhaŋté waštéya napé čhiyúzapi. Čhetáŋ Lúta Wíŋ (Red Hawk Woman) emáčiyapi. Oglála Lakȟóta Wíŋyaŋ hemáčha kštó. Mičhíŋkši núŋpa na hená čhekpápi. Kenai Tokȟéčhuŋ é na Kodiak Wowanglake ewíčhakiyapi. Ináwaye kiŋ Zuyá Ohítika Wíŋ ečíyapi na wašíču čhažé kiŋ Toni Montileaux ečíyapi.

When Charlie Cuny was growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation it seems she was always involved in one kind of art project or another. “Pottery, painting, sewing, beading, jewelry, performing arts,” she said ticking off just some of her pursuits. 

But she always felt a little held back. “We didn’t have enough support when I was a high school artist,” she said. But then a counselor helped steer her to a summer art program at Arizona State University -- which led her to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Sante Fe, N.M., where she earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts -- and the clouds parted. 

“I was like a kid in a candy store,” she said about finally experiencing beautiful studio spaces with ample art supplies.

And now she gets to help bring that magical “aha!” moment to artists and art students back home on Pine Ridge as First People’s Fund’s Oglala Lakota Artspace (OLA) Program Manager.

“I’m excited to move into that building,” she said of the 8,500 square-foot facility near Kyle, S.D., that includes two large classrooms one of which also serves as a computer lab; four artists’ studios that can be divided into eight; flexible co-working and performance space; production studio; kitchenette; administrative offices; programmable outdoor space, as well as a garage for First People’s Fund’s Rolling Rez Arts. “It’s going to give local artists a safe space to call their own.”

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And more. “You can learn to become a business person, an entrepreneur,” she said, thanks to the  Lakota Federal Credit Union that will be housed in the building. “You can take your art and make a business of it.”  Which is something that Charlie does with her art. Currently she is focused on fashion. “My favorite thing now is hat making,” she said, of the original adornments she makes and markets online.

The official opening of the space has been delayed by the pandemic but the move-in date for the first artists-in-residence is just around the corner. And none too soon, said Charlie. “People have experienced loneliness and isolation during COVID,” she said. “We need creativity now more than ever.”

She’s happy to be back home in her Oglala Lakota Nation where she is raising her twin boys and, when not organizing programming at OLA, keeping up with her own creative pursuits while striving to incorporate traditional Lakota teachings into her work. “I like to promote Lakota culture through an artistic lens,” she said, adding: “I’d like to thank First People’s Fund and the Artspace folks for making this building a reality,” said Charlie. “And also Lakota Federal Credit Union. It’s amazing to be part of this project in my home Nation.”

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