Institute of American Indian Arts to host the Spring Homecoming Powwow on May 8, 2010.

This is a periodic blog message by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person on the subject of tribal art. Aboriginals Gallery hosts web sites at Native JewelryLink,com, Native-PotteryLink.com and ZuniLink.com.

In what has become a tradition, the Spring Homecoming Powwow will be staged at the Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The public is invited to browse the powwow grounds, visit craft and art booths, and purchase items from Native food vendors. Spectacular Indian dances also will be performed, which are open to viewing by the public. There is no admission charge to attend.

Dancing starts at 11:00 am with the gourd dance, followed at noon by the Grand Entry, which will be repeated at 6:00 pm.

The head man and head lady are Ensley Aquilar and Elizabeth Nevaquaya, respectively, both IAIA students.

The northern drum will be Red Road Crossing. The southern drum will be Zotigh Singers.

If you would like more information, you may call 505-424-2339.

Fritz Scolder Retrospective at IAIA

Based on last evening's opening at the Institute for American Indian Art, a show featuring the works of Native American artist, Fritz Scholder, will please art lovers of all persuasions.

It was a pleasant evening in the gallery at IAIA. Cool temperatures encouraged attendees to mingle in the inviting IAIA courtyard. Jeans and polo shirts mixed with formal-skirted women and escorts in jackets-and-ties. A table of canapes satisfied any peckishness that guests brought to the event.

But the real satisfaction came from an extensive array of Scholder's lithographs, etchings and paintings, reflecting his unique view of the relationship between contemporary America and its indigenous people. According to his biography, Scholder was not raised as an Indian. He was born in Minnesota in 1937, attended high school in Pierre, South Dakota and graduated from Ashland High School in Wisconsin. Scholder's Indian heritage was one-quarter Luiseno, a Calfornia Mission tribe.

After moving to California with his family in 1957, he began an artistic journey that included numerous shows, five honorary degrees, and participation jn exhibitions around the world. Along the way, after receiving a Masters in Fine Art in 1964, he joined IAIA as Instructor in Advanced Art and Painting, where his tutelage encouraged scores of beginning Native Artists to develop their talents. He left IAIA in 1969.

But the IAIA never left him. This connection was the motivator for IAIA to mount this extraordinary retrospective of Scholder's work. Scholder passed in 2005. His artistic legacy, focusing on the national cliché' about American Indians and the guilt of the dominant culture in reference to its relationship with the land's original owners, lives on with freshness and vitality.

If you have a chance to visit the Fritz Scholder show, which runs through February 19, 2009, you will find it a stimulating view of Native American sensibilities. By the way, be sure to spend some time in the IAIA's gift shop. It is in its own right an expressive survey of the fine works of many very accomplished Native American artists.

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Brought to you by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its allied online galleries at Native-JewelryLink, Native-PotteryLink and Zunilink.

Institute of American Indian Arts Names New Museum Director

The Institute of American Indian Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of Patsy Phillips as Director of the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum. She will begin her position on August 11, 2008. “She brings a wealth of both professional experience and personal attributes to fill the critical vacancy of IAIA Museum Director,” Jim Santini, member of the IAIA Board of Trustees and Chair of the Museum Committee notes. “She will be a long-term asset to both the Institute and Museum.”

Dr. Robert G. Martin (Cherokee), President of the Institute of American Indian Arts, said he is “…extremely pleased that we have selected someone with Patsy Phillips’ credentials, vision, experience and skills to lead the IAIA Museum. She values collaboration and will bring energy and enthusiasm in building on our museum’s strong foundation as a center for important exhibitions and programs relative to contemporary Native American art.” Phillips was selected after an extensive national search, and joins IAIA after working at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C for more than eight years. While there, she developed and managed several programs. As Director for NMAI’s participation in the world-famous Venice Biennale, she organized the sponsorship and promotion of artists such as Edgar Heap of Birds and James Luna. After noticing NMAI’s need for a unit dedicated to contemporary Native arts, Phillips oversaw the planning and development of a strategic plan for contemporary arts which was launched this May. Before working for the National Museum of the American Indian, she was both Interim Executive Director and Program Development Director at Atlatl, Inc, a national service organization for Native American arts in Phoenix, AZ.

A member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Phillips says, “I am thrilled to begin my new post as the Director for the IAIA Museum. I look forward to working with the smart and dedicated IAIA staff and students who are committed to the advancement of contemporary Native arts. I plan to find ways to work collaboratively with other organizations across the country so that together we can change the way contemporary Native art is understood and represented.” She holds a Master of Arts degree in non-fiction writing from Johns Hopkins University, and a Graduate Certificate in Museum Administration from Harvard University.