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When news broke last December, A local artist poses as an Aboriginal – and profiting from these lies – it feels like a betrayal to many in the art world. To some, the media coverage of the controversy appeared to target those most vulnerable.
“Getting myself down and talking to other Natives … it felt like an attack on the community, putting the blame on the Native community,” said Madison-based Diné artist Dakota Mace , 2019 Forward Art Prize Winner.
“The media is targeting individuals, not talking to Wisconsin’s Native communities.”
Mace’s desire to refocus the narrative on supporting Indigenous artists led to the first Indigenous art market, organized by Mace and Paige Skonandore, a member of the Oneida Nation and also A new graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The market, featuring 17 artists from nine tribes, will hold previews on Friday nights. (This is held in conjunction with the citywide Gallery Night, though not an official part of the event.) The entire market will be open Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7 from 10am-5pm
There will be art for sale and displays of beadwork and quill work. All events at the Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston St.
“What really sparked this market was showing that Madison can still support our community here,” Mays said. “But it also really shows the importance of how we make it.
“For myself, it’s always been[about]supporting my community and giving back to … supporting these artists and supporting the work they create. For many First Nations, creating is part of sustaining who we are.”
Beadwork and Cultural Education
Mace, who has a studio on the third floor of the Arts + Lit Lab, is a well-known Madison textile artist, photographer, and educator. She earned two MFAs in Photography and Textile Design from UW-Madison, and is now an Object Photographer in the UW-Madison Department of Design Studies.
Like many artists, Metz wears several hats. She is an MFA instructor and advisor to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Academy of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. She is represented by Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York City.
mace was last fall The “EcoWell” campaign sponsored by the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology, focusing on native beading. That was also held at ALL.
Oneida artist Paige Skenandore created the medallion as part of EcoWell, an event showcasing Aboriginal beadwork last fall. (This is a representation of the EcoWell logo.)
“We had five artists, all different tribes from Wisconsin, the Menominee, and the Little Shell (Chippewa),” says Skenandore, who grew up on the Oneida reservation and started beadwork in middle school.
“We allow them to sell stuff if they want to, but it’s not like we’re pushing them to do a lot of inventory,” Skenandore said. “We just want to show the community what current projects they’re working on, or how to do it differently.”
Skenandore held a beading workshop for about 50 people, teaching them how to make round earrings and keychains. Mays, who works through design research, taught a seminar on cultural appropriation. She said it was a complex topic, so the moderator allowed many questions to be asked.
“The idea of cultural appropriation is often misunderstood,” she said.
“People think they can’t wear indigenous jewelry,” adds Skenandore. “You just have to buy from real local artists.”
“Exactly,” Mays said. “That’s the model in our workshop. We allow students to ask questions, to ask themselves about things. Hopefully this leads to a better future for people, where people are inspired by different communities and cultures.”
“Just interacting with Aboriginal art, some people don’t know if they can touch it, or photograph it, or even use it as inspiration,” Skenandore said. “It depends a lot on the artist.”
dakota mace is a hustleArtists working in Madison. She is an object photographer for Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MFA instructor and advisor for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Institute of American Indian Art. Mace is organizing an Indigenous Art Fair in Madison May 2-5.
After graduation, Skenandore has devoted herself to the arts, with opportunities to teach at venues such as the Madison Public Library and Tomah’s School District, and to develop her career with a collective called the Moody Indian (Moody’s website).
Artists planned for the market include members of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Oneida, Cherokee, Menomonie and Taos Pueblo Artists. Mays, who grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is organizing shared worksheets for Southwestern artists.
Skenandore looks forward to the upcoming variety.
“Each tribe has something different — beadwork, pottery, paintings and photography,” she said. “There are a lot of non-Aboriginal people who really want to support Aboriginal artists.
“In a lot of local art markets, when you buy something, they tell you a story about the piece, why they used that design or that color.”
first of many
A second Indigenous art market is already planned for this fall, and Mays hopes it will become a regular event. She wanted to address the most exploitative practices of the art market, which “has historically been less supportive of artists,” charging “ridiculous fees,” requiring costly travel and not guaranteeing sales.
In contrast, the Indigenous Art Market provides support in the form of stipends (with assistance from UW-Madison) and free or reduced-price housing for participants.
“The Aboriginal art market does take advantage of Aboriginal people,” Mays said. “I hope we continue to build more support for this market…not just from the Madison community, but from the state of Wisconsin.”
That was the goal, she said — “to show the importance of Aboriginal art and how it fits into our identity and the wider conversation about community.”
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