“M is for Mak’lak, W is for White” by Kaila Farrell-Smith (Klamath)
The Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at The Evergreen State College today announced the 2014 winners of the Native Creative DevelopmentTM and the Master Artist Initiative: Artists Teaching ArtistsTM grant programs. The grants are given annually and are awarded on a competitive basis by local and regional experts in the field of traditional and contemporary Native American art forms. Since the inception of the grants in 2006, the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center has awarded $531,000 in direct support to Native American artists. This year’s group of grantees includes established and emerging Native American artists residing in Washington or Oregon who work in visual arts, performance-based arts and media and literary arts.
The winners of the Native Creative Development program are Gary Bigbear (Hochunk), Shawn Brigman (Spokane), Neeka Cook (Tlingit/ Haida), Kunu Dittmer-Bearchum (Northern Cheyenne), Nahaan Eide (Tlingit), Denise Emerson (Skokomish), Vicky Engel (Squaxin Island), Kaila Farrell-Smith (Klamath), Roger Fernandes (Lower Elwha Klallam), Spayne Martinez (Warm Springs), Emma Noyes (Colville), Paul Rowley (Tlingit/ Haida), and Demian DinéYazhi’ (Diné).
The Native Creative Development grant program was designed to address the professional development needs of individual Native artists by providing merit-based funding for a variety of types of projects, such as: training in marketing, purchasing supplies and materials, harvesting resources, portfolio development, apprenticeships, and workshop fees. The Master Artist Initiative grant program is designed to help support opportunities to promote Native arts and cultures within urban and rural Native communities and tribes. It provides an opportunity for master artists to teach emerging Native artists their expert art form.
“Lou” by Spayne Martinez (Warm Springs)
This year’s Master Artist Initiative winners include five Native Artists whom have been practicing their art form for ten years or more. David Boxley (Tsimshian) will teach a class on carving Northwest Coast rattles, Marvin Oliver (Quinault) will teach silkscreen printing techniques to Nez Perce artists, Paul Rowley (Tlingit/ Haida) will teach woven cedar hat making, Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) will develop educational materials to teach traditional weaving at a youth culture camp, and Dawn Walden (Ojibwe) will conduct a class covering weaving with quills on birchbark.
For more information about the Native Creative Development and Master Artist Initiative grant programs, and to learn more about this year’s winners, please see the Longhouse and Cultural Center website.
The Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, “House of Welcome,” is a public service center located at The Evergreen State College. Its mission is to promote indigenous arts and cultures through education, cultural preservation, creative expression and economic development. To learn more about the Longhouse please visit the website at www.evergreen.edu/longhouse.
Photos: “M is for Mak’lak, W is for White” by Kaila Farrell-Smith (Klamath)
