SAMELLA
LEWIS, born in New Orleans in 1924 is rightfully considered one of the most influential
artists/art historians in the United States.
“… As a
young artist, she was drawn to subjects as diverse as police brutality against
African Americans, comic books, and characters from her older sister's romance
novels…”
She “…became
the first African American to receive doctorates in Fine Art and Art
History.Dr. Lewis attended Dillard
University, Hampton Institute, and Ohio State University. She taught as a
full-time professor at Morgan State University, Florida A&M, State
University New York Plattsburgh, California State Dominguez, California State
Long Beach, and Scripps College…”
Dr.
Lewis“…was an active member of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, making her a target
of government officials who accused her of being a Communist and members of the
Ku Klux Klan who shot out windows of her home. Undaunted, she founded a chapter
of the NAACP in Plattsburgh.
‘Lewis
has changed the landscape of Art History and has become an influential and
highly respected voice that has also mentored and bolstered the careers of many
African American artists. She is the recipient of a myriad of awards and
distinctions and has exhibited in many important galleries and museums.”
“I fight against segregation, discrimination,
racism, brutality and depravity because these things deny people their rights
as human beings.” -- Samella Lewis. (Credit: Daily Bulletin)
House
of Shango
Lithograph.
1992
“The
title of this piece is an unmistakable harkening to African roots. Shango is a
religious practice with origins in Yoruba (Nigerian) belief, deifying a god of
thunder by the same name…”
Printmaking in the time of
COVID-19. Small Exhibitions: Who are the people COVID – 19 is Killing in Your
Neighborhood?
Revisiting Navajo Nation
Printmaking.
Featured Artist: Nani
Chacon
Time to check back in with
the Navajo Nation, the "Dineh" or "the People" to see how
their battle with COVID – 19 is progressing.
A brief review of the
Navajo Nation:
In 1864,
"Kit" Carson and the United States federal government enacted a plan
of ethnic cleansing and forced the relocation of the Navajo from their
ancestral homelands to Fort Summer, a 40-square-mile reservation in eastern New
Mexico. Years later the U.S.-Navajo Treaty of 1868 allowed the Navajo to return
to only a small portion of their original homeland.I’m betting your history books didn’t inform
you of the forced “Long Walk of the Navajo.”
Largest of all U.S.
Indian reservations, covers 27,413 sq. miles
Only twelve Health
Service facilities to serve over 350,000 citizens.
The facilities have
only 28 ventilators.
In Mid May when the
Athraigh Studio first featured Navajo printmakers the Navajo had suffered at
least 3,392 cases of COVID – 19 and 119 known deaths.
“Cases on Navajo Nation
peaked in May, with an average of 104 new cases per day. By July, that number
dropped by half to about 48 new cases reported each day. In all, about 9,000 of
the roughly 172,000 Navajo members living on and around the reservation have
tested positive and more than 450 have died from the virus…. Local officials
say Navajo Nation’s success in flattening the curve has been largely due to
three things: widespread adherence to mask-wearing and social distancing, one
of the strictest stay-at-home curfews in the country and an aggressive testing
regime.”
“The coronavirus was so
devastating on Navajo Nation in part, experts say, because of severely lacking
infrastructure on the reservation. An estimated 30 percent of homes don’t have
running water…”
The Navajo have shovel
ready plans to improve their infastructure and hope to use some of the $714
million in federal aid they received from the CARES Act. A deadline mandates
the money be spent by Dec. 30 or the tribes risk have to send it back.
“Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez…wants to spend
the money on expanding access to running water and electricity and providing
broadband access and more affordable housing on the reservation — in effect
addressing the infrastructure gaps that experts said contributed to COVID-19’s
deadliness there…”https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/navajo-nation-fears-second-covid-19-wave/index.html
Spending the money by the
end of the year is close to impossible, “… because most tribal land is held
in trust, and technically owned by the federal government, development on many
tribal lands is fraught with complications..”
The Navajo asked the Trump administration in June to waive some federal
regulations so the tribe could fast-track development projects. It’s now August
and they’ve heard nothing.
U.S. Rep. Tom O’Halleran,
D-Ariz., introduced a bipartisan bill to extend the spending deadline for
tribal governments to 2022.
So, the Navajo continue to
fight COVID, fight the Trump administration to build infrastructure on a small
portion of their original homeland and face the annual summer drought.
So, if we simply focus on
water… Digging new water lines and building water towers on the reservation is
difficult due to the federal and tribal regulations. Please consider supporting
DigDeep.
“DigDeep”, a human rights
nonprofit serves the 2.2 million+ Americans without the sinks, bathtubs or
toilets has established The Navajo Water Project.
Nanibah “Nani” Chacon, is
a Diné (Navajo) and Chicana artist who was born in Gallup, New Mexico and grew
up both in Chinli, Arizona and Corrales, New Mexico. Her clan is To dich iini
(bitter water) and born for Nakai Diné (Mexican/ Spanish people.)
“Agua es Vida” signed
and numbered serigraph Print.
“honoring the
historical and traditional connections we have with have with water, with the
water that lives in us, is the water of centuries” Nanibah.
Who is Getting Rich from
COVID – 19 in Your Neighborhood?
Minnesota sulfide mining vs The Ojibwe.
Featured artist:Ojibwe artist Jim Denomie
Ojibwe artist Jim
Denomie
Toast Series
Monoprint with oil
pastel
Over 150,000 people have
now died from COVID - 19. Our government officials don’t want you to see the
numbers but we all know each number is/was a person. To personalize COVID, Athraigh
Studio continues its effort to look beyond the numbers and into the art made by
the people.
In the U.S. people of
color are at greater risk than others. Among the most vulnerable are Native
Americans.In today’s,exhibit detailing Who are the people COVID
– 19 is Killing in Your Neighborhood?, Athraigh Studio brings you examples
of the art of The Ojibwe and a few related details regarding their battle to
save the earth and their people from the greed of the mining companies.
Have you ever been to the
boundary waters in Northern Minnesota?
“At over 1.1 million
acres, the BWCA contains more than 1,100 lakes, 1200 miles of canoe routes, a
dozen rugged hiking trails and endless opportunities to explore and discover an
adventure.”
https://www.friends-bwca.org/
In 2018, “… the Trump
administration announced it would reinstate Twin Metals’ expired mineral leases
at the edge of the Boundary Waters. Later that year, the Administration
canceled a study into a 20-year moratorium on sulfide mining in parts of the
Superior National Forest…”
https://www.friends-bwca.org/
This opened the door for Antofagasta,
a Chilean-owned mining conglomerate who is working to open a sulfide mine at the edge of the Boundary
Waters.
A quick couple of facts
about sulfide mining:
“Because of its
inherently polluting nature, the EPA has called hard-rock mining (or sulfide
mining) the most toxic industry in the country.
In fact, there has
never been a sulfide mine that has not polluted surrounding water sources.
Even worse, the
pollution from sulfide mining is nearly impossible to contain and can last for
hundreds, even thousands of years…”
So, if all goes as planned
for Antofagasta, you should expect to paddle your canoe through “acid mine drainage”:
sulfuric acid and heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic and other toxins.
Picture the pristine
Boundary Waters and the people who originally called the location home:
“The Boundary Waters
Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)… Between
2.5 million and 10,000 years ago, glaciers from the last ice age shaped the
lakes and rivers that the BWCAW became known for. Lakes and streams cover about
190,000 acres of its over-one-million-acre surface area.
Before European
exploration and immigration, Dakota, Ojibwe, and other Indigenous people lived
on the lands that now make up the BWCAW.”
The Ojibwe and the Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe opposition to the mining threat has been met by calls to boycott
their casinos and businesses by
“ … former Minnesota
Senate Minority Leader and big-time sulfide mining supporter Tom Bakk and Ely
Minnesota mayor, Chuck Novak,urging a wider boycott of Ojibwe businesses…”
The Ojibwe and the Chippewa
now struggle to contain COVID 19 with limited resources and to preserve the Boundary
Waters. In recognition of their effort, Athraigh Studio would like to help make
you familiar with the art created by Ojibwe artist Jim Denomie:
“Denomie, a member of the
Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe, combines vivid hues and disarming humor in
powerful narrative paintings that invite new perspectives on historical and
contemporary events in Indigenous and American life…”
Whose Getting Rich from
COVID – 19 in Your Neighborhood?
Jordan Cove and Pacific
Connector Gas Pipeline.
Plus:
A small exhibition by Rick
Bartow, Mad River Band of the Wiyot Indians printmaker.
Over 140,000 people have
now died from COVID - 19. Our government is making it more difficult to see the
numbers and making little effort to personalize the pandemic but we all know each
number is/was a person. Athraigh Studio continues its effort to look into the
numbers and into the art made by the people.
In the U.S. people of
color are at greater risk than others. Among the most vulnerable are Native
Americans. Today, in the third exhibit
detailing Who are the people COVID – 19 is Killing in Your Neighborhood?,
Athraigh Studio brings you examples of the art created by the indigenous people
of Northern California and Southern Oregon, specifically the prints made by Rick
Bartow, who “…was a member of the Mad River Band of the Wiyot Indians and had
close ties to the nearby Siletz Reservation…”
The indigenous people of Northern
California and Southern Oregon have been in a battle to survive the pandemic
and to save the earth and their people from the greed of big oil companies,
specifically the Jordan Cove LNG Project.
Jordan Cove liquified
natural gas ("LNG") terminal and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline
(together known as "Jordan Cove" or "the Project". Pembina
is the parent company of the Jordan Cove Project (originally owned by Veresen),
a Canadian Company.
Some important facts and a
bit of history:
“…pipeline will run
through 400 streams and waterways including underneath the Klamath River, Rogue
River, and Coos Bay…”
“…twice the size of the
DAPL(Dakota Access Pipeline)…”
“…80 miles of old
growth forest will have to be clear cut for the pipeline…”
“…Pipeline would run
through traditional tribal lands and burial sites of the Yurok, Hoopa, Karuk,
Modoc and Klamath Tribes of Northern California and Southern Oregon…”
For the past “…15 years, Jordan Cove LNG has failed to
qualify for any of the necessary state permits to dredge Coos Bay for an LNG
export terminal and to trench across Oregon for a 230-mile fracked gas
pipeline, threatening harm to Tribal resources, private landowners, drinking
water, and fisheries along the way…”
The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved
the controversial Jordan Cove project. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon,
opposed the decision:
“A few days ago, Donald
Trump and Mitch McConnell stacked the decks when yet another Republican
commissioner was confirmed to FERC, leaving the Commission unbalanced. This is
despite current law that says the FERC should be an independent and bipartisan
commission…
“…Oregon Governor Kate
Brown responded with a statement, saying in part: "Given a national and
state emergency, in which the federal government and its agencies are unable to
fulfill their basic responsibility to keep citizens safe, it is stunning that
the FERC moved forward on this decision today, approving the Jordan Cove
project and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline…"
“…FERC has wrongly
approved a pipeline that would harm our burial grounds, pollute our waterways,
and endanger our community,” said Klamath Tribal member Ka’ila Farrell-Smith.
“For years my Tribe, and others, have advocated to stop Jordan Cove LNG, and we
will continue to stand up until this pipeline is stopped for good...”
Oregon has already denied key permits for this projects so thankfully,
the FERC decision doesn’t mean Jordan Cove LNG is immediately moving forward. The
legal struggle will continue and the indigenous
people of Northern California and Southern Oregon will battle with COVID – 19 while
at the same time fighting to save their traditional land from the greed of both
the United States government and their Canadians business partners. Compounding
the struggle will be Trump’s recent (July, 2020) “…rollback to the
country’s landmark environmental law, the National Environmental
Policy Act, by speeding up approval for federal projects like pipelines,
highways and power plants…”
In recognition of the
monumental efforts of the Northern California and Southern Oregon people, Athraigh
Studio would like to help make you familiar with the art created by a
printmaker who I greatly admire:
Rick Bartow.
“Rick was many things:
a Native American, a decorated Vietnam veteran, a contemporary artist and an
intellectual. He was born and raised in Newport, Oregon. He was a member of the
Mad River Band of the Wiyot Indians and had close ties to the nearby Siletz
Reservation. After studying art for a time at what is now Western Oregon
University, he was drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam. The trauma he
experienced there left him with post-traumatic stress disorder and caused him
to struggle with alcoholism for most of the 1970s.
He found his way out of
those dark years by reconnecting with Indigenous tradition, immersing himself
in the beauty of nature and embracing the therapeutic and redemptive power of
art. Rick once described this process by saying, “I drew myself straight.” His
work is raw and powerful, and it exhibits a hard-won sense of optimism.
Athraigh Printmaking
Studio’s series of small exhibitions continue today with its series of exhibits
of African-American printmakers. The issues addressed by these artists are
still current. I had not learned of many of these amazing printmakers in school
and therefore, sadly, I did not expose my students to them. I hope that by
bringing these artists to you now, you might have a better understanding of the
long battle against racism, artists of color have fought and continue to fight
today.
The Cinque Gallery was
founded in 1969 by artists Romare Bearden (1911–1988), Ernest Crichlow
(1914–2005), and Norman Lewis (1909–1979) to exhibit the work of both new and
established African–American artists, and to provide community educational
programs. The gallery was named after Joseph Cinqué, the leader of the Amistad
slaveship mutiny of the 1830s. For more than three decades, Cinque sponsored
more than 300 exhibitions in a number of New York City venues, as well as
regional travelling exhibitions before closing in 2004.
Rendering of the Amistad,
slave ship on which Joseph Cinqué led the historical uprising.
Cinque Gallery. Cinque
Gallery brochure, 1959-1981. Cinque Gallery records, 1959-2010. Archives of
American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Today’s exhibit will
feature Ernest Crichlow (1914–2005) who describes his art:
“… I think I know now
that this is valid and this is me and this is all that really counts. As I say,
the styles will go by and I will hope that I'll have a place and that is all
you can do…”
