Native American Women on Arts, Culture & Resilience
2:30 PM - 4 PM
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.
Presented by Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, this panel celebrates the leadership of extraordinary Native American women in the arts, in connection to current debates around gender rights, and standing of women in tribal communities and the greater society. The audience will have the opportunity to explore the work of these artists who, through their arts practices, act as catalysts, embrace their roles as culture bearers, and challenge legacies of colonial disempowerment. The artists will reflect upon their roles as leaders in an era of the Me Too Movement and the inspiration of Native women in a moment of great political turmoil.
The panelists for this event include Jaclyn Roessel, Cara Romero, Melissa Cody, and Rose B. Simpson. After the artists' introductions, they will share a powerpoint presentation and then engage in discussion with the audience. The last 15 minutes of this event are dedicated to questions from the audience.
Panelist Bios:
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) – photographer
Cara Romero believes that more Native photographers can master sophisticated photographic techniques creating critical content in their work and transmit authenticity and contemporary Native identity. Cara’s approach seeks to depict new ways of seeing Native pop culture. Her work reflects her diverse training in film, digital, fine art, journalism, editorial portraiture and commercial photography. She is known for modern indigenous identity stories, her use of humor, social commentary, contemporary lighting and color and her staged and theatrical compositions. She has won several awards including Best of Classification 2D at SWAIA two years in a row, NACF Artist Mentor Fellowship Award, multiple Heard Museum ribbons, and the NARF Visions for the Future Award. See: https://www.cararomerophotography.com/
Jaclyn Roessel (Navajo) – curator
Jaclyn Roessel was born and raised on the Navajo Nation. Roessel is the president of Grownup Navajo, a company dedicated to sharing how Native American teachings and values can be a catalyst for change. Her work as a writer and curator is motivated by matriarchs in her ancestry, theories futurism and healing justice work. She lives with her husband and son in Santa Ana Pueblo. See: https://grownupnavajo.com/
Melissa Cody (Navajo) – weaver
Melissa Cody is a fourth-generation Navajo weaver from No Water Mesa, AZ. She is the first to boldy lead and weave in contemporary design. Cody works in the realm of the Germantown Revival style, incorporating geometric overlay to enhance 3-D planes. Her work is a combination of traditional patterns deconstructed and reworked into sound composition. Cody visually maps out the design and relies on complex number counts to ensure that each warp string is accounted for and the multiple lines of symmetry are exact. She heavily compacts the weft as each textile incorporates an immense amount of intricate detail per inch. By incorporating eclectic color schemes and bold, sharp lines, Cody’s work stands apart as a signifier of a new-wave weaver who finds this to be vital in the continuation of creativity. See: https://www.sebastiankleihs.com/cody
Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara) – multi-disciplinary artist
Rose B. Simpson is from Santa Clara Pueblo, NM. She forged her own creative mark in new mediums and installation works with inspiration from deeply seeded cultural roots and from generations of renowned potters. Simpson mainly works in large scale ceramic mixed-media figurative sculpture, but also does aerosol muralism, performative adornment, music, and classic car customization. Her work has exhibited internationally, and is in museum collections nationwide. Most recently, in 2018 she received an MFA in Creative Non-fiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts, after a 2011 MFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a 2007 BFA also from IAIA. Simpson is a rising matriarch within her culture, community, and the art world. See: https://www.rosebsimpson.com/
Moderator: Andrea R. Hanley (Navajo)- arts advocate and Chief Curator of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
Andrea R. Hanley has been an arts advocate for more than 25 years. Her career has been guided and dedicated to the work of contemporary American Indian artists and the American Indian fine art field. Hanley has had an impressive career working as a curator, gallerist, writer, fundraiser, lecturer, and volunteer. She is the Chief Curator of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, NM. More recently serving as the Membership and Program Manager for the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts for six and half years. She spent over nine years at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., serving as both Special Assistant to the Director, and Exhibition Developer/Project Manager. Upon returning to Arizona, Hanley worked as fine arts coordinator/curator for the city of Tempe, Executive Director for ATATL, Inc., an organization dedicated to Native American art advocacy, Artrain, USA, a national arts organization, as its Sponsorship and Major Gifts Officer, and the founding manager of the Berlin Gallery at the Heard Museum. She currently serves on the Santa Fe Arts Commission, Axle Contemporary Board of Directors, and as a Committee Member for the Native American Advised Endowment Fund, at the Santa Fe Community Foundation. She has over three decades of professional experience working in the field of exhibition development and arts management, primarily focusing on American Indian art. Ms. Hanley is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.
Andrea R. Hanley has been an arts advocate for more than 25 years. Her career has been guided and dedicated to the work of contemporary American Indian artists and the American Indian fine art field. Hanley has had an impressive career working as a curator, gallerist, writer, fundraiser, lecturer, and volunteer. She is the Chief Curator of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, NM. More recently serving as the Membership and Program Manager for the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts for six and half years. She spent over nine years at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., serving as both Special Assistant to the Director, and Exhibition Developer/Project Manager. Upon returning to Arizona, Hanley worked as fine arts coordinator/curator for the city of Tempe, Executive Director for ATATL, Inc., an organization dedicated to Native American art advocacy, Artrain, USA, a national arts organization, as its Sponsorship and Major Gifts Officer, and the founding manager of the Berlin Gallery at the Heard Museum. She currently serves on the Santa Fe Arts Commission, Axle Contemporary Board of Directors, and as a Committee Member for the Native American Advised Endowment Fund, at the Santa Fe Community Foundation. She has over three decades of professional experience working in the field of exhibition development and arts management, primarily focusing on American Indian art. Ms. Hanley is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.
Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation’s mission is to promote the revitalization, appreciation and perpetuation of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian arts and cultures through grant making, convening and advocacy. To date, NACF has supported a total of 318 awards for Native artists, organizations, and advocacy efforts in 32 states and the District of Columbia. To learn more about NACF’s work—nurturing the passion and power of creative expression, visit: https://www.nativeartsandcultures.org.
FREE! Doors open at 2 PM.