First Peoples Fund Welcomes 2020 Artist Fellows

By Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation) Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015

Cover Image: Sunbeam / 101989, serigraph 5-color, by Terran Last Gun (Piikani)

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We are thrilled to enter a new decade with our 2020 cohort of Native artists in the Artist In Business Leadership (ABL) Fellowship and Cultural Capital (CC) Fellowship. 13 ABL fellows are joining the First Peoples Fund (FPF) family alongside 12 CC fellows. These artists have demonstrated three of FPF’s core principles: knowing our history and ourselves, honoring our ancestors and relations, sharing our stories and knowledge. Here is a brief introduction to the 2020 fellows. Watch for their individual stories throughout the coming year as we explore the heart of their work and the unique challenges they are overcoming.

ARTIST IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

Many Native artists rely on art as their sole source of income. To be successful, they need critical resources such as credit and capital, new markets, knowledge and training, informal networks, creative space, and supplies. The ABL fellowship gives them a financial boost while offering networks and training to level up their business.

2019 ABL Fellow Elexa Dawson (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) says, “A lot of things are happening [this year] that are projects I’ve worked on a long time, and now it’s all coming together fast.” A founding member of an all-female acoustic roots band, Elexa now travels primarily as a solo artist.

Funds from the ABL fellowship are a key to opening new doors for Native artists across the country, leading them places they hadn’t dreamed of. It often gives them the freedom they need to keep the practice of their art alive and well in their communities.

Living in Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Hawai’i, Oregon, North Dakota, and Texas, here are the 2020 Artist in Business Leadership Fellows:

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Aveda Adara (Dineh, Navajo)

Mixed Media, Storytelling

Houston, Texas

Joanne Brings Thunder (Eastern Shoshone - Wind River Wyoming)

Jewelry, Ledger Art, Painting, Regalia/Fashion Design

New Town, North Dakota

Marcella Hadden (Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe)

Photography

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Dennis DG Hatch (Chippewa Tribe of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan)

Carving, Mixed Media, Sculpture

Reedsport, Oregon

Anna Marie Kahalekulu (Native Hawaiian)

Regalia/Fashion Design

Wailuku, Hawai’i

Terran Last Gun (Piikani)

Printmaking, Painting, Photography

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Jessica Mehta (Cherokee Nation)

Mixed Media, Poetry/Spoken Word, Storytelling, Writing

Hillsboro, Oregon

Ehren Natay (Diné)

Performing Arts

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Caitlin Newago (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa)

Beadwork, Drawing, Painting, Regalia/Fashion Design

Ashland, Wisconsin

Mikayla Patton (Oglala Lakota)

Beadwork, Graphic Design, Jewelry, Painting

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Tiana Spotted Thunder (Oglala Sioux Tribe)

Music

Ashland, Montana

Delina White (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe/Minnesota Chippewa Tribe)

Mixed Media

Walker, Minnesota

Dennis Williams (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe-White Earth Nation)

Beadwork, Regalia/Fashion Design

Audubon, Minnesota  

2020 CULTURAL CAPITAL

Cultural bearers gather, retain, and share critical knowledge of art forms. These artists are vital to the continuation of Native arts, and they use funds from their CC fellowship for projects that impact their communities and beyond.

“I found that interactive participation is the only way to make ancestral wisdom and teachings come alive and take root in the hearts of the students,” says Kevin Locke (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), a 2019 First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellow. He held workshops to reintroduce the original Indigenous North American Flute at schools.

We welcome the 2020 Cultural Capital Fellows and their upcoming projects:  

CooXooEii Black (Northern Arapaho)

Poetry/Spoken Word, Storytelling, Writing

Fort Washakie, Wyoming

Bruce Cook (Haida)

Carving, Drawing, Graphic Design, Painting, Sculpture

Riverton, Wyoming

Darrell Eagle Staff (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe)

Photography

Eagle Butte, South Dakota

Stanley Hawkins (Oglala Lakota)

Beadwork, Jewelry, Leatherwork, Regalia/Fashion Design

Rapid City, South Dakota

Kinsale Hueston (Diné)

Poetry/Spoken Word

Corona del Mar, California

Flora Jones (Red Lake Ojibwe)

Beadwork, Jewelry, Quilting/Sewing

Redlake, Minnesota

Pelena Keeling (Native Hawaiian)

Dance, Music

Kailua Kona, Hawai’i

Dawnee LeBeau  (Cheyenne River Lakota)

Natural Light Photographer

Eagle Butte, South Dakota

Kelly Looking Horse (Oglala Lakota)

Dance, Music, Painting, Poetry/Spoken Word, Quillwork, Regalia/Fashion Design

Batesland, South Dakota

Cynthia Masterson (Comanche Nation of Oklahoma)

Beadwork

Seattle, Washington

Tara Moses (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Muskogee/Mvskoke/Creek Nation of Oklahoma)

Theatre/Acting, Writing

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Lance Twitchell (Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)

Mixed Media, Painting, Poetry/Spoken Word, Regalia/Fashion Design, Writing

Juneau, Alaska  

#GIVINGTUESDAY  

One of our 2020 fellows is supported directly by those of you who gave during this year’s #GivingTuesday campaign. Anna Kahalekulu (Native Hawaiian) is a leading fashion designer through her company, Kūlua. A skilled seamstress, pattern-maker, and designer, she earned a degree in — and is a former lecturer of — UH Maui College's Fashion Technology program and holds a degree in business from CU Boulder.

Kūlua was founded to fulfill Anna’s vision of an environmentally responsible fashion line that incorporates old concepts within Hawaiian culture, her heritage, and her values as a young Hawaiian woman. The Kūlua label is comprised of small batch ready-to-wear resort collections, custom special occasion wear, and a line for keiki. Anna offers an apprenticeship that takes an artist under her company’s wing, teaching them to sew and weave while passing on knowledge of traditional art forms in contemporary ways. For her dedication to passing on and sustaining ancient traditions she was selected as this year’s FPF #GivingTuesday fellow.

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BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

At the upcoming 2020 Fellows Convening, we look forward to potential collaborations and knowledge shared among these 25 outstanding Native artists. Bringing the two fellowship programs together at the convening allows them to glean ideas for support in their art, share best business practices, and even create art during in-between moments as they build lasting connections.

Throughout 2020, our monthly eSPIRIT newsletter will highlight these fellows. Please subscribe to eSPIRIT by scrolling to the bottom of this page and entering your email address. You will be inspired by the heart-work of these artist leaders.