IAIA Together Apart
Keeping the IAIA community connected
#IAIATogetherApart on Instagram
Instagram posts that are tagged with the #IAIATogetherApart hashtag are posted here. (Only posts that are public will be displayed, private posts are hidden.) If you’d like to share images or videos, please post them to Instagram using the #IAIATogetherApart hashtag, and please follow Social Media Guidelines with those postings, too.
The pandemic has brought me much sadness, but also blessings. A couple months ago, my family had lost my aunt to Covid-19. When I first heard the news, I cried so many tears for my aunt. I always hoped she was doing well. It had been many years since I've last seen her. The memories of what she looked like, her voice, and smile echoed in my mind and crumbled my heart. I still really miss her as I am writing this. I deeply wish I can see her and hug her. Just seeing my family has brought me so much comfort, and so is living with my boyfriend. Family has never mattered so much more to me during times like this. All I can believe right now is everything will be okay. #iaiatogetherapart
The following letter is a submission from #IAIATogetherApart, set 50 years from now. To see more submissions or submit your own, visit togetherapart.iaia.edu.
Pandemic Letter—April 9, 2020, 1:42 pm, Anonymous
Dear Reader,
I am writing from a world in which there is no shortage of grotesque heaps of hurt. Assuming that hasn’t gone away, maybe you’re sick of being pat on the head. Maybe you’re sick of being at the receiving end of that hurt. Maybe you’re sick of having to explain why it hurts, or maybe you’re just sick. I take it you’ve heard of COVID-19. Perhaps you’ve been a witness to your grandparent or great-grandparent ranting and reeling about the effect it had on their lives, or maybe told the same stories by your parents. They were stories about how hard they had to work to keep their jobs, or how hard they had to work to educate their children by themselves with countless additional responsibilities. Maybe your elders would say things about how they needed to feel privileged that they had a job at all—from home or at risk. They needed to be grateful that they were slaves to capitalism at the desires of the rich. Maybe your grandparents were children when coronavirus initially began. Maybe your grandparents couldn’t graduate college or high school that initial year. They remember watching their parents struggle to provide, struggle to ration food, some not knowing where their money was coming from after being “guaranteed” their position, but laid off nonetheless. The other side of the coin could be stories of how they remember their parents going out, living as-is, shopping constantly, not wearing masks, or gloves, or caring. Maybe they remember losing someone—a parent, a friend, a child? Maybe they were isolated alone, or without resources. You didn’t live through it, but this is not the depression, 9/11, or the recession of yore. This is different. So much about this disease was unforeseen. It was merciless, fast, suffocating, and unpredictable.
(Continued in the comments)
Working from home has been a major test of patience for me. My son’s attitude reminds me of me more and more every day. Likewise, I am reminding myself of my mother more and more every day. What is going on? This feels like the Twilight Zone.
This kid keeps taking his diaper off and flinging it across the room. Have you ever had to clean human feces from the carpet at 9 am, and then have a zoom meeting at 9:15? If so, I’m right there with you. There is crayon scribbled on every surface of this house. You know, at first I told him to stop, but towards the end of the first week I just looked at him and said “don’t you want to go color on the walls some more?” just to buy myself a few minutes of silence. Don’t most two-year-olds nap? Not this guy! And he’s become obsessed with TikTok. Every five minutes it’s “Make a TikTok, Mama!? Make a TikTok!?” We’ve watched so many TikToks now that every now and then he opens the front door and screams “CORONAVIRUS!” à la Cardi B. He’s running through the living room screaming it as we speak. Somehow we’ve watched Cars two-million times in two weeks. Ka-chow! And I caught him eating an ant the other day—he squished it under his finger, stuck his finger in his mouth, then went in for more—and I didn’t stop him. I just sat there in my exhaustion and let it happen. But, hey, it’s protein, right? I guess we’re both coping by stress-eating—I’m already three string cheeses, a row of Oreos, and several fruit snacks deep today. I seriously can’t stop snacking! But I need to be better at practicing self control, because I already had to venture out to the store once this week to replenish our snack stock and while I’ve definitely feared for my life at a Wal Mart before, it just hit different this time, ya know?
It’s not all bad of course. We’re having fun and goofing around a lot, and most importantly I can tell he’s happy having me home. It’s just hard not really getting a break now and then and a bit isolating.
So check on your friends with kids, guys! We’re not ok!
#IAIATogetherApart
The #IAIATogetherApart website is now live! It was created to give voice to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Community—a voice to help cope with the 2020 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on a community who largely relies on day-to-day physical interaction for learning, mentoring, and communicating. All IAIA Community members are eligible to submit their stories to the #IAIATogetherApart website, which includes staff, faculty, students, alumni, board members, parents and family members, other Tribal Colleges and Universities, AIHEC, and AICF. See togetherapart.iaia.edu/submit for criteria and guidelines.
Stories can be just that, a story, or perhaps a poem, a letter—from one word to 512 words. During this pandemic, the IAIA campus is absent of your voice in its classrooms, hallways, walking paths, dorms, office spaces, buildings, and Café, but don’t let that stop you from vocalizing—share your voice, submit a story to #IAIATogetherApart.
After you submit a story, post a photo or video using your story and the #IAIATogetherApart hashtag here on Instagram for a chance to be featured on IAIA’s social media.
#IAIATogetherApart was conceived and created by IAIA’s offices of Institutional Research (Dr. Bill Sayre, Anita Gavin, Jesse Morris) and Marketing and Communications (Jason S. Ordaz, Nicole Lawe). The website launched on Monday, March 30, 2020. For inquires, please contact [email protected]
This semester the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Creative Writing Department hosted a writing contest open to all IAIA students. The categories were Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction, and five winners were chosen overall. We are pleased to showcase the incredible talent that is coming out of IAIA and will share these five pieces of work periodically through the remainder of the semester.
About the author:
“I am a descendant of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. My relationship with writing began thirteen years ago, when I wrote my first poem. Since then, I’ve consistently authored poems while recently beginning to explore the techniques and methods of writing creative nonfiction and fiction. Each poem I write is an illustration of the daily mundane, romanticization of my ordinary every day, and symbolic storytelling of more significant circumstances. The weight words hold in poetry has always had an impact on my writing journey. Each poem is based heavily on events from my life, whether those events were middle-of-the-road, dishonorable, or somewhere in-between.”
“that night i couldn’t sleep” by Rebakkah Santos foghighway
It is with a heavy heart that the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) extends an invitation to you to join us virtually for a memorial and celebration of the life of DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo (Diné, Taos Pueblo) ’21. The memorial will be live-streamed from the IAIA Facebook page, as well as our website, on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, 12–2 pm (MST).
DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo (1992–2021) graduated from IAIA in Spring 2021 with a BFA in Studio Arts and was admitted into IAIA’s inaugural MFA in Studio Arts cohort in Summer 2021. She will be remembered as a dedicated student, a devoted friend, a kind person, and a passionate artist whose creativity knew no bounds. Join us as we come together as a community to honor her memory.
Please visit www.iaia.edu/event/deanna-autumn-leaf-suazo-memorial-and-celebration-of-life/, or follow the link in our bio for more information.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
“I didn’t think it was going to be possible to come back to school next semester. I cried when I first found out about this scholarship because it took a lot of weight off my shoulders. I no longer had to worry about affording school next semester.”—Soledad Flores Gudino ’25
For #GivingTuesday this year, you have the chance to give the gift that empowers Indigenous artists and leaders for the future. Did you know many Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) alums have become renowned artists, filmmakers, poets, writers, and cultural leaders who impact the world for generations to come? But many IAIA students rely on scholarships and other financial aid and would not be able to continue their education without the generous support of our donors. By making an unrestricted donation to IAIA, your gift can fund scholarships, student emergency funding, improved facilities and resources that students need, and more.
Generous contributions of $25, $50, $100 or more are deeply appreciated. And if you donate $150 or more to IAIA, your name will be entered in a raffle to receive one of several gifts, including an overnight stay in a King Casita at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado in Santa Fe; an overnight stay at a Heritage Hotel in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, or Taos; a copy of “Making History: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts” (a beautifully illustrated history of IAIA); passes for free admission to the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA); and more!
Learn more at www.iaia.edu/2021-giving-tuesday/.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
Get your holiday shopping done from home this year and visit the Institute of American Indian Arts‘ (IAIA) annual Holiday Art Market, being held virtually this year from November 17–December 24, 2021. This virtual market featuring artwork by IAIA alums, students, faculty, and staff is a great opportunity to pick up handmade items created by Indigenous artists.
View the full list of participating artists with links to their online shops at www.iaia.edu/philanthropy/market-place/, or follow the link in our bio.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
“This scholarship is definitely going to help me further my higher education and, with the career that I’ve chosen, give back to my community of Indigenous artists.” –LaDonna Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes) ’23
For #GivingTuesday this year, you have the chance to give the gift that empowers Indigenous artists and leaders for the future. Did you know many Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) alums have become renowned artists, filmmakers, poets, writers, and cultural leaders who impact the world for generations to come? But many IAIA students rely on scholarships and other financial aid and would not be able to continue their education without the generous support of our donors. By making an unrestricted donation to IAIA, your gift can fund scholarships, student emergency funding, improved facilities and resources that students need, and more.
Generous contributions of $25, $50, $100 or more are deeply appreciated. And if you donate $150 or more to IAIA, your name will be entered in a raffle to receive one of several gifts, including an overnight stay in a King Casita at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado in Santa Fe; an overnight stay at a Heritage Hotel in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, or Taos; a copy of “Making History: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts” (a beautifully illustrated history of IAIA); passes for free admission to the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA); and more!
Learn more at www.iaia.edu/2021-giving-tuesday/.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, please join us in taking the opportunity to express gratitude for our families, friends, communities, and this beautiful land. In observance of Thanksgiving, IAIA will be closed until Monday, November 29, 2021.
Best wishes for a happy and safe holiday!
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
This semester the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Creative Writing Department hosted a writing contest open to all IAIA students. The categories were Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction, and five winners were chosen overall. We are pleased to showcase the incredible talent that is coming out of IAIA and will share these five pieces of work periodically through the remainder of the semester.
About the author:
“I am a Native American Veteran from the Osage Nation, my clan is Eagle, and I am an artist, fashion designer, and poet. I started my journey into art when I was very young in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I have taken many awards at the SWAIA Indian Market, and have artwork in private and museum collections. I have created the Sky-Eagle Collection as a way to advocate and to heal.
After multiple years overseas, in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Italy, I returned home with many traumatic incidents locked deep inside my heart and soul. I needed a release, I needed therapy, so I opened my art and fashion studios. I paint, write poetry, sculpt, create art installations, and I am a fashion designer.
My poetry is a way to break down constructs and complicated structures and simplify the root of the emotion and feeling. Using new haiku ideals while creating a longer story enables me to really reflect and externalize emotions.”
“Unforgotten” by Dante Biss-Grayson (Osage) dante_biss_grayson
“MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett’s generous gift allows us to give back to our community. We are strategically planning for the Museum’s future, which will build upon ways to provide further opportunities for our constituents.” –Patsy Phillips (Cherokee Nation), MoCNA Director
For #GivingTuesday this year, you have the chance to give the gift that empowers Indigenous artists and leaders for the future. Did you know many Institute of American Indian Arts’ (IAIA) alums have become renowned artists, filmmakers, poets, writers, and cultural leaders who impact the world for generations to come?
One vital resource for IAIA students, as well as for society at large, is the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which serves as a learning space for exhibition practices, as well as a place for IAIA seniors to showcase the very best of their artwork in an exhibition each year. Named one of “America’s Cultural Treasures” by the Ford Foundation, IAIAMoCNA has been exhibiting, collecting, and interpreting the most progressive works of contemporary Native artists for nearly half a century. Now, this Giving Tuesday, you have the chance to contribute to this national legacy and support Indigenous student learning, as well as the recognition and appreciation of contemporary Native art.
Generous contributions of $25, $50, $100 or more are deeply appreciated. And if you donate $150 or more to IAIA, your name will be entered in a raffle to receive one of several gifts, including an overnight stay in a King Casita at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado in Santa Fe; an overnight stay at a Heritage Hotel in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, or Taos; a copy of Making History: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (a beautifully illustrated history of IAIA); passes for free admission to IAIA MoCNA; and more!
Give today and support Indigenous scholars and contemporary Native arts—link in bio.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
A place to embrace the past, enrich the present, and create the future.
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) offers undergraduate degrees in Cinematic Arts and Technology, Creative Writing, Indigenous Liberal Studies, Museum Studies, Performing Arts, and Studio Arts; graduate degrees in Creative Writing and Studio Arts; and certificates in Broadcast Journalism, Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History.
Visit www.iaia.edu today to learn more.
“These donors have given me hope again. This scholarship helps me continue living my dreams and creating my art. What I want to do is spread love and joy through my art, so I’m very grateful to these donors for helping me to do this.” –Xeneca LeClair (Otoe-Missouria Tribe) ’23
For #GivingTuesday this year, you have the chance to give the gift that empowers Indigenous artists and leaders for the future. Did you know many Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) alums have become renowned artists, filmmakers, poets, writers, and cultural leaders who impact the world for generations to come? But many IAIA students rely on scholarships and other financial aid and would not be able to continue their education without the generous support of our donors. By making an unrestricted donation to IAIA, your gift can fund scholarships, student emergency funding, improved facilities and resources that students need, and more.
Give today and support Indigenous scholars—link in bio.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
We are deeply saddened to acknowledge the loss of DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo dalsuazo (Diné, Taos Pueblo), who tragically passed away last weekend.
DeAnna graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Spring 2021 with a BFA in Studio Arts and was admitted to IAIA‘s inaugural MFA in Studio Arts cohort in Summer 2021.
DeAnna loved to celebrate her Diné and Taos Pueblo heritage and to create art that reflected Pueblo cultural significance and aesthetics. Inspired by heroic figures of Japanese manga novels including “Sailor Moon,” she imbued her work with memory, resilience, and good intentions. Her most recent work emphasized figural paintings of strong Indigenous women that in her words “grind every day for a better community.”
DeAnna showed artwork at the Southwest Association for Indian Arts Market (SWAIA) for over a decade and was also a featured artist at many national arts markets including the Heard Museum Indian Market and Fair, the Autry Museum Artist Market, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Artist Market. She was a SITE Santa Fe Scholar and a 2021 Taos Fine Arts Visionary Artist.
DeAnna’s artwork has been exhibited across the country including recent shows at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts‘ (MoCNA) 2021 BFA Exhibition “Manifesting Our Destinies” and the IAIA College 2021 BFA Show “A Retrospective of Change.” She will be remembered as a dedicated student, a devoted friend, a kind person, and a passionate artist whose creativity knew no bounds.
Please keep DeAnna‘s family in your thoughts and prayers.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
Dear IAIA Community,
Today, Thursday, November 11, 2021, is Veterans Day, a holiday in which we take time to celebrate and honor the duty, bravery, and sacrifice of persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Due to their commitment and love of country, we continue to enjoy the freedoms that we all treasure. Please join me in expressing gratitude to all veterans, especially to the following members of the IAIA community, for their military service.
• Julio Alvarez, Security Personnel, US Air Force
• Douglas Bootes (Saponi Descendant), Adjunct Professor, US Army
• Melanie Buchleiter, Registrar, US Marine Corp Reserves
• Lisette Irizarry (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe), Student, US Navy
• Alexander Kurowski (Oneida Nation), Student, US Army
• Joseph Seymour Jr. (Squaxin Island Tribe), Student, US Marine Corps
Wishing you a happy and safe holiday,
Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee)
IAIA President
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
“Reemergence 2021,” the Institute of American Indian Arts’ (IAIA) 2021 Fall Senior Graduating Exhibition, opens November 10–December 10, 2021. Join IAIA for an opening reception this evening, Wednesday, November 10 from 6–8 pm (MST) in the Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery on the IAIA campus. The reception will be open to the public and a light dinner and refreshments will be served. We request that all visitors be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and wear a face covering. The event will also be livestreamed at www.iaia.edu, as well as on our Facebook page.
This year’s senior exhibition, “Reemergence 2021,” features IAIA’s 18 graduating BFA in Studio Arts and BFA in Museum Studies seniors. “Reemergence 2021” is the first in-person senior exhibition that IAIA has held since November 2019. These students weathered the COVID-19 Pandemic with admirable persistence—constantly creating and patiently waiting for the IAIA campus to reopen. Some students even deferred a semester in order to wait for a physical exhibition, rather than participating in a virtual exhibition like the last three IAIA senior exhibitions. Now, in this capstone exhibition, IAIA’s graduating BFA in Studio Arts and Museum Studies students have the opportunity to reemerge into the art world as they showcase the culmination of their course of study in a physical exhibition.
Studio Arts Seniors:
Brandon Armijo (Jemez Pueblo and Santo Domingo Pueblo), Chelsea Bighorn (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux/Shoshone-Paiute), Renee Chavez (Isleta Pueblo), Kelsey Frosch, 伊藤福 Fuku Ito (Japanese), Jonathan Loretto (Jemez and Cochiti), Joseph Maldonado (Tlingit and Ottawa, Other), Jazmin Novak (Navajo), Kelly Tungovia (Hopi), Suni Sonqo Vizcarra Wood (Quechua Nation), Kelly L. Dale (Navajo), Amalia Sparks, Lx Lewis (Cheyenne River and Diné), Tiffanie Irizarry (Ihanktonwan Dakota)
Museum Studies Seniors:
Darvin Descheny (Diné), Johnny Gordon (Chemehuevi), Paloma Mankus, Dawna Walters (Diné)
Learn more and tune into the livestream at www.iaia.edu/event/iaia-2021-fall-senior-graduating-exhibition-reemergence-2021/, or follow the link in our bio.
Photographs by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
Collaboration. Excellence. Creativity. Respect. Integrity.
These are the core values of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), and we are looking for driven individuals who share this passion. Available positions include Associate Director of Institutional Advancement, Native American Art Historian, Student Success Advisor, Advancement Services Manager, and more.
IAIA offers competitive salaries and an outstanding benefits package for regular full-time positions, which includes, medical, dental, vision, term life, long term disability, short term disability, a 403B investment plan, and Employee Assistance Program.
To learn more about employment at IAIA and to apply, visit www.iaia.edu/about/employment/, or follow the link in our bio.
Photograph by Jason. S Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts‘ (IAIA) annual Holiday Art Market will be held virtually this year from November 17–December 24, 2021.
Join us on November 17, 6–7:30 pm (MST) for a virtual launch party and artist preview, hosted by IAIA alumnus, artist, and media personality Shane Hendren (Diné) shanehendren. The virtual event will include studio visits and interviews with select artists representing a range of disciplines, including painting, photography, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, and more. Join us on ZOOM for this special event—the link will be available a few days before the event on the IAIA Holiday Art Market page.
IAIA alums, students, faculty, and staff are all invited to participate in the 2021 Holiday Art Market. The deadline for entries is November 10—register today!
For more information and to register as a vendor, visit www.iaia.edu/philanthropy/market-place/, or follow the link in our bio.
Holiday Art Market art by IAIA Student Tiara J. Yazzie (Navajo) ’22.
Please join the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) for the opening reception of the IAIA 2021 Fall BFA Senior Graduating Exhibition, “Reemergence 2021,” on November 10 from 6–8 pm (MST) in the Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery on the IAIA campus. The reception will be open to the public and a light dinner and refreshments will be served. We request that all visitors be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and wear a face covering. “Reemergence 2021” will run from November 10–December 10, 2021.
This year’s senior exhibition features IAIA’s 18 graduating BFA in Studio Arts and BFA in Museum Studies seniors. Reemergence 2021 is the first in-person senior exhibition that IAIA has held since November 2019. IAIA’s Fall 2021 graduating seniors weathered the COVID-19 Pandemic with admirable persistence—constantly creating and patiently waiting for the IAIA campus to reopen. Some students even deferred a semester in order to wait for a physical exhibition, rather than participating in a virtual exhibition like the last three IAIA senior exhibitions. Now, in this capstone exhibition, IAIA’s graduating BFA in Studio Arts and Museum Studies students have the opportunity to reemerge into the art world as they showcase the culmination of their course of study in a physical exhibition.
Learn more about “Reemergence 2021” at www.iaia.edu/event/iaia-2021-fall-senior-graduating-exhibition-reemergence-2021/, or follow the link in our bio.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
This #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) celebrates our Indigenous students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members. As such, this month we continue our IAIA Alumni Spotlight Series. IAIA‘s mission “to empower creativity and leadership in Native Arts and cultures through higher education, life-long learning, and outreach,” is more than a statement—it is the on-going objective of all that we do. These alumni embody our core values, and help to further our mission from an Indigenous perspective.
IAIA Alumni Spotlight—George Rivera (Pojoaque Pueblo) ’84
IAIA alumnus, artist, and former Governor of PojoaquePueblo George Rivera georgeriverastudio received an Associate of Fine Arts from IAIA, and is a graduate of the California College of Arts and Crafts californiacollegeofarts in Oakland, California, the Lacoste School of Arts in Lacoste, France, and was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from IAIA in 2018. He served his Pueblo in northern New Mexico as Lieutenant Governor and was later appointed Governor—but is also quite well known for his monumental stone and bronze sculptures, paintings, and architectural design—and has been teaching art for over 20 years.
Rivera‘s artwork reflects the symbolism and realism of both the past and present-day life of the pueblo people, and many of his subjects focus on pueblo dancers. A few of his pieces include a twelve-ton sculpture of a buffalo on permanent display in the Pueblo of Pojoaque, and a bronze Buffalo Dancer, Deer Dancer, and Butterfly Dancer on display at BuffaloThunderResort and Casino. He is also responsible for the architectural style and aesthetics of this resort. In addition to his work as an artist, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Southwest Association of Indian Arts (SWAIA) SantaFeIndianMarket, has been a panelist for the New Mexico Arts Division, a guest lecturer at several colleges, and was a participant in the 1995 U.S./China Arts Exchange in Kunming, China. Rivera continues to work on and show his art at the Pueblo where he resides with his family.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
The IAIA Artist-in-Residence (A-i-R) program is accepting applications for the 2022 Spring and Fall semesters. The A-i-R Program hosts artists for variable-length residencies taking place on the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico during the academic year.
These residencies provide Native American and First Nations artists the opportunity to travel to the IAIA campus for a meaningful period of art-making and interactions with IAIA students, staff, and faculty, as well as the Santa Fe art community.
This residency is open to all tribally enrolled Native American artists, as well as First Nations artists from British Columbia, Canada. Artists whose work engages with cultural traditions through materials, techniques, and subject matter are particularly encouraged to apply. The application deadline is Monday, November 8, 2021 at midnight (MST).
For more information about the IAIA A-i-R program and to apply, visit www.iaia.edu/artist-in-residence/, or follow the link in our bio.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
Dr. Lara Evans (Cherokee Nation), IAIA’s new director of its Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts (RCCNA), will be guest curator for the Renwick Invitational 2023 presented at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery. The Renwick Invitational, established in 2000, highlights mid-career and emerging makers deserving of wider national recognition. This tenth installment of the invitational features, for the first time, all Native American artists.
Read the full story about the exhibition, as well as information about the new IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts, at www.iaia.edu/iaias-dr-lara-evans-to-guest-curate-smithsonian-american-art-museums-renwick-invitational/ (link in bio).
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
Visiting “the City Different?” Pay a visit to the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which was featured in LonelyPlanet’s article “Thirteen of the Best Things To Do in Santa Fe.”
IAIAMoCNA's hours are Monday and Wednesday–Saturday from 10 am–5 pm, and Sunday from 11 am–4 pm (closed on Tuesdays). Learn more about MoCNA and purchase admission tickets at www.iaia.edu/mocna/mocna-visit/, or follow the link in our bio.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Creative Writing Department is hosting a writing contest that is open to all IAIA students. The categories are Poetry, Fiction, and Non-Fiction. One winning submission from each category will be selected and shared on IAIA‘s social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, etc.).
Please limit submissions to one piece of writing per person. Submissions should be no more than 2,000 characters long (per Instagram character limits). The deadline to submit is Sunday, October 31, 2021. Email submissions with your full name and the contest category in the subject line to [email protected]
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Campus Bookstore held its first-ever t-shirt design contest this fall semester. Students submitted artwork for the theme “When IAIA Goes Mask Off—what is your hope for the IAIA Community after the COVID-19 Pandemic has passed?”
It is an honor to name Suni Sonqo Vizcarra (Peruvian Quechua Nation) ‘21 as the winner! A panel of IAIA campus artists and professionals chose Vizcarra’s inspirational work out of seven outstanding finalists. A massive round of applause to Suni Sonqo Vizcarra and all finalists, Brannon Selestewa, Jacquelyn Yepa, Karhatiron Perkins, Kobe Cassador, Wiyaka Pomarleau, and Xeneca LeClair, whose work and passion shows that IAIA is looking forward with hope and strength.
Special thanks to the panel, Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer, Neal Ambrose-Smith, Sally Wesaw, Arista Slater-Sandoval, and Teklu Hogan, for their effort and dedication in picking a winner out of seven excellent entries.
Please join us in congratulating Vizcarra, whose design will soon release in a limited run of 100 t-shirts.
Image by suni__sonqo_vizcarra_wood
Construction is underway on the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) campus for the new IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts (RCCNA).
The construction, now simultaneously in phases one and two, has been sectioned into three phases and is looking to be ahead of schedule.
Phase one involves building an extension onto the Academic Building in the back courtyard. The extension will house the Ethnobotany Lab and the Conservation Lab—to make room for the RCNNA in the Barbara and Robert Ells Science and Technology Building—as well as the Digital Fabrication Lab (Fab Lab), and a brand new Cinematic Arts and Technology Film Studio.
For this project, IAIA has teamed with Dyron Murphy Architects and Jaynes Construction. Oscar Tovar from Dyron Murphy Architects has already completed the interior design for the RCNNA space, so once phase one is complete and the Ethnobotany Lab and Conservation Lab are moved to their new homes in the Academic Building, a general contractor can be found to begin phase two—construction of the RCNNA. Phase two, the interior renovation in the Science and Technology Building, involves creating the spaces for the RCNNA, which will include the Archives, the Archives Classroom, and the Collections Classroom.
Once the interior renovation in the Science and Technology Building is complete, the finishing touches will begin in this third phase of relocating the IAIA Archives into its new permanent home in the RCCNA. The RCCNA is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and has been undergoing development for the past three years. This exciting new space will extend IAIA’s objective to study, preserve, and disseminate traditional and contemporary Native American arts, cultures, literature, and history. By consolidating services that IAIA already provides via the IAIA Archives and the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) into one location, the IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts will provide the opportunity for comprehensive and accelerated research of contemporary Native arts.
Video by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
Are you signed up for the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) monthly newsletter? Opt in now and be the first to hear about recent news and past, current, and upcoming happenings at IAIA like the Scholarship Awards Luncheon, 2021 Open House, construction for the new IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts (RCCNA), and so much more! View the October 2021 newsletter and join the mailing list to never miss an update—link in bio.
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)! Of course, every day is #IndigenousPeoplesDay at IAIA. Still, today especially, we celebrate Indigenous cultures everywhere and join the nation in taking the time to acknowledge the importance of Indigenous contributions to our society through culture, language, history, traditions, art, and so much more.
What does Indigenous Peoples’ Day mean to you?
Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz, Institute of American Indian Arts
VISIT THE COVID-19 PAGE
View the COVID-19 resource page on the IAIA website.