Welcoming the 2019 Artist Fellows

Story by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer (Choctaw Nation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2015.

Header Image: Biatché - A Place of Honor and Love by Ben Pease (Crow Tribe of Montana, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation), Artist in Business Leadership Fellow 2019

We are excited to welcome a dynamic cohort into our fellowship programs for 2019. The variety of art mediums they practice show the incredible range of Native arts and the depth of Indigenous talent found across the country.

2019 ARTIST IN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP FELLOWSHIP

Many of these artists are taking center stage in mainstream media — literally. Several of the fellowships were awarded to performing artists who take their vibrant music, dance, storytelling, hoop dancing, spoken word poetry, and acting to audiences across the country, and around the world.

“First Peoples Fund has funded performing artists in the past but this is the first year almost half our fellows are performing artists,” says Amber Hoy, FPF Program Manager of Fellowships. “This is an area where we are expanding. It’s great to have this cohort of performing artists that can really share different ways of creative expression.”

We see the long term impact on the careers of fellows like 2018 Artist in Business Leadership fellow Raye Zaragoza (O’odham, Mexican, Taiwanese and Japanese).

“My FPF fellowship has connected me with so many new resources for my music and has connected me with people I would have never met otherwise,” Raye says. “And above all, it has deepened my pride for being an indigenous artist and sharing my work.”

One of FPF’s first performing artist to receive an Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship, Frank Waln (Sicangu Lakota), recently visited FPF and mentioned how exciting it has been to see more and more performing artists enter the Fellowship programs.

“I remember being one of the only performing artists at the fellowship convening my first year being a fellow, and now I see so many more kinds of performing artists entering the program,” said Frank. “You guys are responding to what many Native artists are doing and learning to support what they need.”

Alongside performing arts, there are traditional arts, film, mixed media, fashion design, and a variety of other visual arts represented in this year’s cohort.

The 2019 Artist in Business Leadership Fellows are:

Elexa Dawson
(Citizen Potawatomi Nation)
Music.
Emporia, Kansas

Danielle and Desiree De La Rosa
(Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation)
Music. (Miracle Dolls)
Beaumont, California

Terra Houska
(Oglala Sioux Tribe)
Beadwork, jewelry, mixed media, regalia/fashion design.
Rapid City, South Dakota

Margaret Jacobs
(Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe)
Jewelry, sculpture.
Enfield, New Hampshire

Addison Karl
(Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)
Drawing, painting, sculpture.
Bremerton, Washington

James Pakootas
(Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation)
Music, poetry/spoken word, storytelling, writing.
Nespelem, Washington

Kalani Pe’a
(Native Hawaiian)
Music, storytelling.
Wailuku, Hawaii

Ben Pease
(Crow Tribe of Montana, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation)
Drawing, graphic design, mixed media, painting, photography, regalia/fashion design, sculpture, storytelling.
Billings, Montana

Darby Raymond-Overstreet
(Navajo Nation)
Beadwork, graphic design, mixed media.
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Joseph Running Crane
(Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation)
Music.
Browning, Montana

Marty Two Bulls Jr.
(Oglala Sioux Tribe)
Mixed media.
Rapid City, South Dakota

Madison Ann Craig and Jordan Craig

(Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation)

Fashion design. (Shy Natives)
Oakland, California

2019 CULTURAL CAPITAL FELLOWSHIP

When Amber attended the Santa Fe Indian Market (SWAIA) as an introductory to FPF staff and the market, she encountered the work of Deborah A. Jojola (Isleta Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo). Amber was struck by Deborah’s use of color with her traditional pueblo frescoes.

“Her work is geometric, and has these gorgeous shapes and colors that is aesthetically pleasing,” Amber explains. “She’s been showing her work at SWAIA for more than 25 years. I encouraged her to apply for First Peoples Fund’s Cultural Capital program.”

Cultural Capital grants support artists in perpetuating practices in their communities. Performing artist Gunner Jules is using part of his fellowship to further his work in helping youth heal with music and traditional practices.

“Deborah proposed to deepen her knowledge about pueblo frescoes techniques and teach some of those techniques to youth, and Gunner Jules will continue to mentor youth in his community,” Amber says. “Cultural Capital fills a need for artists to continue the work they are already doing.”

Deborah is also the recipient of the Cultural Capital Fellowship funded from our 2018 #GivingTuesday campaign to raise money for a culture bearer who exemplifies three of First Peoples Fund’s core principles: Knowing our history and ourselves, Honoring our ancestors and relations, Sharing our stories and knowledge.

The 2019 Cultural Capital Program fellows are:

Maile Andrade
(Native Hawaiian)
Basketry, mixed media, pottery/ceramics, regalia/fashion design, weaving/textiles.
Kilauea, Hawaii

Keith BraveHeart
(Oglala Sioux Tribe)
Film/video, mixed media, painting.
Kyle, South Dakota

Talon Ducheneaux
(Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe)
Music, poetry/spoken word.
Fort Thompson, South Dakota

Marcella Ernest
(Bad River Band of the Lake Superior, Ojibwe)
Film/video, mixed media, photography.
Sacramento, California

Kamaliikupono Hanohano
(Native Hawaiian)
Tattoo.
Kailua, Hawaii

Gunner Jules
(Sicangu Lakota)
Music.
Saint Francis, South Dakota

Deborah A. Jojola
(Isleta Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo)
Visual art.
Albuquerque, New Mexic

Kevin Locke
(Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota)
Dance, music, storytelling.
Wakpala, South Dakota

Molina Jo Parker
(Oglala Sioux Tribe)
Beadwork.
Hermosa, South Dakota

Kenny Ramos
(Barona Band of Mission Indians)
Storytelling, theatre/acting.
Lakeside, California

Sheldon Raymore
(Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe)
Drawing, graphic design, mixed media, music, painting, poetry/spoken word, regalia/fashion design, storytelling.
Brooklyn, New York

Peter Williams
(Alaska Native)
Film/video, leatherwork, mixed media, regalia/fashion design, storytelling, weaving/textiles.
Sitka, Alaska

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UPLIFTING NATIVE ARTISTS

“I’m excited to learn about different artists’ practices,” Amber says, “where they find their inspiration, their mediums, and how they create the work. It’s great to build those connections.”

The artists will meet one another and FPF staff at the upcoming 2019 Fellows Convening. This gives them an opportunity to learn from one another, and see the potential in their own work as artists, business owners, and culture bearers in their communities.

“Often, we see fellows that were Artist in Business Leaders switch to Cultural Capital or vice versa,” Amber says. “When they’re around their cohort, they realize, ‘oh, I’m doing this other thing in my community that I’ve been doing pro bono. I didn’t realize I could get financial support to keep these traditions and keep this practice alive.’ And sometimes Cultural Capital artists say, ‘this thing that I’m doing has business potential.’ Sometimes fellows switch from one fellowship to other.”

We are planning the convening with space in mind to allow the fellows to interact.

“It’s not just about the sessions,” Amber says. “It’s also about these in-between moments where arts leaders have time and space to create and have that dialogue. That can be just as important than the whole program, having everyone collected in one area and allowing conversations to happen.”

We look forward to those conversations as the FPF family grows to include these exceptional artists.

You can get to know the 2018 fellows through our monthly eSPIRIT newsletter that highlights two fellows every month. Subscribe to eSPIRIT by scrolling to the bottom of any page on our website and entering your email address. You will be inspired.