NATIVE ARTIST RESIDENCIES

Native Artist Residencies Pilot - Homer, Alaska - November 2019

Native Artist Residencies (NAR) was launched by PA’I Foundation (Honolulu, HI), in association with Western Arts Alliance (Portland, OR), with the aim to develop a network of artist-in-residence partner organizations dedicated to creating space for Indigenous artists in their residency programs, curating positive residency experiences for Native artists, and developing collaborations with the Indigenous communities on whose land their institutions are located.

With support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and in partnership with Bunnell Street Arts Center (Homer, AK) and N M Bodecker Foundation (Portland, OR), the NAR Pilot was designed as two, 10-day creative residencies – one at Bunnell, one at Bodecker – with activities designed to deepen the host organization’s relationship with their local Native community and expand organizational capacity to advance equity in the field. Planned components included: Cultural Competency Workshops for Board and Staff; protocols to honor the land, its caretakers and elders; sharing, planning and celebrating with the Native community; formalizing communication between the organization and tribal representatives; and the creation of performance material.

The artistic focus of the NAR Pilot Project was the creation of a new theatrical work, The Indigenous Road Show, devised by an ensemble of Indigenous performers directed by Peter Rockford “Tau” Espiritu (Hawaiian/Samoan), to be available for touring in late 2020. The cast and NAR team were also to design curricula and activities for incorporating Native youth, elders and community in future residencies.

As described in the video (on the right) the Pilot Project was expected to serve as a model for programmatic and organizational capacity-building for the development of future Indigenous artist residencies within the partnership network. The Bunnell residency was very successful, despite the group being snowed in by a blizzard and unable to depart for two days following the residency. For anyone who believes in signs from the Universe, it was an omen of what was to come.

Twelve weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country, and with it, any plans for the development of a touring show.

Read the next section, Indigenous Residency Series, to see how we pivoted in response.

Outreach to Village of Nanwalek, AK

Indigenous Residency Series - 2020-2023

The Indigenous Residency Series (IRS) was an adaptation of Native Artist Residencies in response to the 2020 shutdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to keep artists creating and receiving financial support, it consisted of “at-home” residencies for three artists - Anthony Hudson, Arias Hoyle and Stephen Paul Judd - with support from host organizations, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), Bunnell Street Art Center and NM Bodecker Foundation, respectively. Each nonprofit worked closely with the artist to incubate their project, connect with their communities and develop plans for presenting the work, either virtually or in-person once public gatherings were able to resume.

The artists and partners stayed connected virtually throughout the three-year residencies with the goal of collaborating to support the artists’ work and building connections between their communities, and sharing the work with the public. The project was managed and supported by the Western Arts Alliance’s Advancing Indigenous Performance Program.

Funding for the residencies was provided by: the James F and Marion L Miller Foundation; Regional Arts & Culture Council; and grants from the Creation Fund and Development Fund of the National Performance Network.

The Funders

The Projects

Anthony Hudson residency, with Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Portland, Oregon)

Portland Institute for Contemporary Art hosted an extended residency with multi-disciplinary artist Anthony Hudson (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde) to develop a sequel to Anthony’s recent solo “Clown Down: Failed to Mount,” entitled “Clown Down 2: Clown Out of Water.” While the original, multimedia-based solo showed Anthony’s drag clown character Carla Rossi tasked with performing an evening-length show while trapped under a fallen cabinet as a means of exploring depression and anxiety, this follow-up charts Carla as she finds herself trapped on a rock in the ocean while the water level rises due to melting ice caps - and is concerned with climate disaster and how to navigate an increasingly-distressed planet. As part of this residency Anthony developed writing, motion graphics and scenography, and explored possibilities for virtual and outdoor/distanced iterations of the work. Ultimately, PICA co-produced (with RISK/REWARD) the show for a live audience, with a four show run, September 15-18, 2022.

Arias Hoyle residency, with Bunnell Art Center (Homer, Alaska)

Arias Hoyle (Tlingit) is a solo hip-hop recording artist from Juneau. His stage name is Air Jazz, and he endeavors to bring his ancestry into the public eye. During the residency period, Hoyle released his EP “¢hillout ¢hilkat” and a subsequent 12-track album, “My La$t ¢han¢e ¢hilkat” Arias also shot a video in Homer, featuring one of his new compositions and engaging the local community and landscape. To further support the Indigenous community around Homer, he conducted an outreach residency in the remote community of Nanwalek Village - accessible only by boat or small plane. There he led songwriting workshops and filmed students performing the songs they wrote together. As a part of his residency he was given the opportunity to have his music engineered at Bodecker Foundation’s recording studio in Portland, Oregon; while there, he co-presented a beat-making workshop for high school students at the Many Nations Academy (Native American Youth and Family Center).

Steven Paul Judd residency, with Bodecker Foundation (Portland, OR)

Steven Paul Judd (Kiowa-Choctaw), known primarily as a visual artist and filmmaker, focused his residency on the intersection of painting and performing arts through a multi-disciplinary exploration of traditional Native dances, both ceremonial and social, such as the Gourd Dance, Fancy Dance, and Hoop Dance, among others. Steven created a series of large paintings that capture the steps of Native dancers in motion, making visible on canvas both the movement of the dancers and the rhythm of the accompanying songs and music. The painting process (“making of”) was filmed and supplemented with post-painting, on-camera interviews with the dancers in their regalia explaining the history and significance of each of the dances. Ultimately, the canvases and accompanying videos will be exhibited together at installations that may also include live performances of the dances and songs that have been documented. The first part of his residency took place at home in Oklahoma where he developed the mechanics of how to create the actual paintings. This initial trial and error phase centered on Steven’s own tribe, the Kiowa, and their traditional Gourd Dance. In 2023, an in-person residency was held at the Bodecker Foundation in Portland, Oregon, which included a community workshop for families and Portland-area students, including students attending Many Nations Academy and those served by NAYA at mainstream Portland-area high schools. Steven’s paintings were displayed at Bodecker’s gallery and a public sharing was held. This project can easily be transported to other regions where Steven hopes to engage local tribal communities in the process of documenting their traditional dances on canvas and on camera, culminating with live events, installations, and workshops. Of specific interest to Steven are the traditional Native dances of the Florida Seminole, Arizona Hopi, and several California tribes. Residency and exhibition opportunities could ultimately be extended to organizations across the country, resulting in a growing body of work and contemporary creative archive of traditional Native dances.

CHECK OUT THE INDIGENOUS RESIDENCY SERIES VIDEOS:

Mural Workshop w Steven Paul Judd, a Robert Franklin film

Clown Down 2: Clown Out of Water. Credit: TojoAndrianarivo