Lakota collage artist recipient of Bush Artist Program’s 2010 Enduring Vision Award
Lakota collage artist Arthur D. Amiotte, is one of three winners of the 2010 Enduring Vision Awards from the Bush Artist Program. The $100,000 awards – the only of this size and intent in the country – are focused on propelling the artistic careers of mature artists, those with 25 years of experience as working artists.
Lakota artist and art historian Arthur D. Amiotte was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. His current work in collage documents the history and culture of the Sioux people. Amiotte uses images from epic, mural-sized drawings by his great-grandfather Standing Bear (1870–1930) to create a visual narrative of his family during this period. The collage materials tell the story of Lakota people adapting to the farming and ranching lifestyle, economy, and society of the reservation in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
After receiving the Arts International Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Artists Fellowship in 1997, Amiotte lived at the Claude Monet residence in Giverny, France, where he began making collages mixing images of Indians in tribal and historical settings. In Amiotte’s collages, the Sioux who traveled with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show are portrayed in European cities and landscapes as they reflect on the newness and strangeness of their experiences. The texts that appear in the paintings are the words of his great-grandfather, grandparents and others of their generation. The Bush Foundation previously awarded Amiotte a Bush Leadership Fellowship in 1980 and a Bush Artist Fellowship in 2002. He lives in Custer, SD, and exhibits regionally, nationally, and internationally.
The other 2010 recipients include Lao weaver Bounxou Daoheuang Chanthraphone, and photographer Paul Shambroom.
The Bush Artist Program was established in 1976. Since then, 504 grants have been awarded to 453 different artists. The program provides financial and professional development support for artists to advance their work, stimulate dialogue, and contribute to deeper community engagement through the $100,000 Enduring Vision Awards and the $50,000 Bush Artist Fellowships, awarded annually to 15 artists.
Foundation grant provides scholarship funding for Native American students
The American Indian College Fund recently received a $6,000 grant from the Xcel Energy Foundation. The Xcel Energy Foundation Tribal College Scholarship Program will provide scholarships to Native American students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The recipients must attend one of the three tribal colleges in Minnesota: Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, or White Earth Tribal and Community College in Mahnomen. Additionally, scholarships are awarded to students who have primary residency in the Twin Cities area, or whose families have primary residency there.
“Xcel Energy is happy to support this valuable scholarship program,” said Jim Garness, senior Foundation representative. “The investments we are making with these scholarships will help improve Native American student opportunities and prepare the next generation to manage the business and technical challenges of the future.”
Richard Williams, president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, said, “Thanks to the generosity of the Xcel Energy Foundation, even more American Indian students will be able to pursue academic degrees in STEM fields. It is because of donors like Xcel [Energy] that Native scholars in Minnesota can achieve their educational and career goals.”
Bush Artist Program Introduces 2010 Artist Fellows
The Bush Artist Program announced their 2010 Bush Artist Fellows, chosen from a competitive field of more than 500 applicants, who will receive a total of $50,000 in unrestricted funds and professional development support.
This year’s fellowships focused on visual arts, media arts, and traditional and functional craft arts. The 2010 Bush Artist Fellows Visual Arts winners include: Star Wallowing Bull (Moorhead, MN), Cedric N. Chatterley (Sioux Falls, SD), Nancy Ann Coyne (Minneapolis, MN), Lori Greene (St. Paul, MN), Michael Kareken (Minneapolis, MN), Mali Kouanchao (Minneapolis, MN), Jimmy R. Longoria (Hopkins, MN), Dean Lucker (St. Paul, MN), Megan Rye (Edina, MN), and Nate Young (St. Paul, MN). Media Arts winners include: Bianca Pettis and Jacob Aaron Roske (St. Paul, MN), and John Whitehead (St. Paul, MN). Traditional and Functional Craft Arts winners are: Dan F. Jerome (Belcourt, ND), Debra Lyn Korluka (Stillwater, MN), and Delina L. White (Deer River, MN).
