Center for Art as Lived Experience Hosts Indigenous Artists, Scholars and Musicians in Landmark Gathering

This program is supported by a convening grant of $25,000 from the Terra Foundation for American Art and will host a series of public round table discussions, artist talks and musical performances spanning the four-day event.   

School of Art assistant professor and founder and director of C.A.L.E Aaron Turner thanks the Terra Foundation for its support, highlighting the program's significance and celebrating C.A.L.E.'s first major grant. 

"As director for the past three years, I've always imagined this level of programming for the space, and it's been a pleasure collaborating with our advisory board and participating artists," said Turner. "C.A.L.E. is a space to bridge the gap between art and lived experience, and that's what this convening represents, bringing national and regional voices from Indigenous communities to speak on topics about the past, present and future." 

An advisory board comprised of local Indigenous artists and educators, as well as representatives from the U of A's Native American Student Services program, the Native American Student Association, Indigenous studies, Multicultural Center and U of A Libraries, have been instrumental in the collaborative development of the program with co-curators Aaron Turner, Elise Boulanger (citizen of Osage Nation) and Serena Caffrey. 

"This program not only honors the deep connections between art and lived experience but also strengthens community relationships and amplifies Indigenous voices in the Ozarks and beyond," said Rachel Debuque, director of the School of Art. "We are honored to host and learn from this extraordinary program and guests."  

PROGRAM DETAILS 

The program will begin with an opening address and performance at the Studio and Design Center, Thursday, Feb. 27, followed by discussions at Mount Sequoyah on Friday, Feb. 28. The weekend will cover topics of Indigenous representation in museum spaces, land return, land grant universities, monumentality and future monuments, and commemoration of the Trail of Tears. 

Resounding Sovereign Expressions: Resurgent Indigenuity in Ozark Arts Practice and Scholarship includes performances by Nathan Young (a citizen of the Delaware Tribe of Indians and of Pawnee and Kiowa descent), Warren Realrider (Pawnee, Crow), Mekko Harjo (Quapaw) and U of A Department of Music's Lauren Clare (Chickasaw).  

A workshop will be held with Demian DinéYazhi (Diné), along with a screening of a film by Colleen Thurston (Choctaw).  

Dialogue amongst many notable artists include but are not limited to Yatika Starr Fields (Cherokee, Osage and Muscogee Creek), Raven Halfmoon (a citizen of the Caddo Nation), Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne and Arapaho) and Joel Garcia (Huichol). 

"I feel humbled and immensely grateful to be in collaboration with the incredible group of artists, scholars and advisory board members who will be joining us in for this event," said Serena Caffrey, C.A.L.E. research assistant and program co-curator.  

This spirit of collaboration and learning is central to the program aiming to foster connections between artists, scholars and Indigenous communities. 

"As a citizen of the Osage Nation, I am actively deepening my knowledge of this region—our ancestral homelands—and the nations who have inhabited this place for longer than memory," says co-curator Elise Boulanger. "The best way to do this is by listening to and collaborating with Native people who hold ancestral knowledge, community teachings and remember this place through their own lived experiences." 

Gregory Jones, director of Native American Student Services also shares how this program not only aims to uplift Native voices but also create space for meaningful dialogue and artistic expression, inviting all to engage with the rich history and vibrant futures of Indigenous communities. 

"We look forward to collaborating with artists, scholars and community members as we continue to honor and amplify our cultural legacies," said Jones. 

Resounding Sovereign Expressions is free and open to the public. For the more information, a full agenda of the weekend and to RSVP, please visit art.uark.edu. 

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.  

About the Center for Art as Lived Experience (C.A.L.E): Is a multidisciplinary visual arts research center promoting innovative pedagogies that integrate artmaking into communities by emphasizing the intersections of art and lived experience. Art as lived experience: All forms of artistic inquiry are influenced by lived experience. Indeed, the visual arts are critical to understanding the complexities of daily life, our lived relations to the social world, and the plurality of images and visual languages that come to define it. 

About the Terra Foundation for American Art:  the Terra Foundation for American Art, established in 1978 and having offices in Chicago and Paris, supports organizations and individuals locally and globally with the aim of fostering intercultural dialogues and encouraging transformative practices that expand narratives of American art, through the foundation's grant program, collection, and initiatives.