IAIA Leadership Travels to Washington, DC
The Washington Monument
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Board of Trustees, IAIA President Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee Nation), IAIA Foundation Chair Stockton Colt, and three IAIA President’s Cabinet members traveled to the US capital in Washington, DC, for the November 2023 Board of Trustees Meeting, held two blocks from the National Mall at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Their visit involved swearing in new board members, conducting board business, recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day as an IAIA holiday through a resolution, meeting with the New Mexico Congressional Delegation, and viewing Native art in national museums.
On Tuesday, November 7, the five new Biden-appointed IAIA Trustees, Johnpaul Jones (Choctaw and Cherokee descent), Madeline Fielding Sayet (Mohegan), Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo) ’07 and ’18, Jane Semple Umsted (Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma), and Manuelito Wheeler (Diné), were sworn in at NEH by Judge Florence Y. Pan, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The NEH Chair, Shelly Lowe (Diné), gave a welcome speech and asserted her commitment to funding diverse and previously overlooked minority-serving institutions and programs.
Madeline Fielding Sayet (Mohegan) being sworn in by Judge Florence Y. Pan.
The new trustees shared their reasons for joining the IAIA Board of Trustees, many beginning their introductions in their Native languages. Accomplished architect and artist Johnpaul Jones began by acknowledging his grandmother, her sisters, and his mother, who are of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, as the foundation for his involvement. Jones previously assisted with the master of plan of the IAIA campus, designed the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian—only a few blocks away from NEH—and created welcoming and culturally attuned spaces for Native people on campuses. Director, playwright, performer, and professor Madeline Fielding Sayet affirmed the value of Indigenous-centered education at IAIA: “…I believe incredibly deeply that our stories are an expression of our sovereignty and that there should be arts training programs that center Indigenous values and Indigenous thinking, and I continue to hear stories of harm from so many Native artists who go into the other programs, and they want a space in which their values are empowered—such as IAIA—and yet, so many places don’t offer that.” Mixed-media artist Rose B. Simpson, who carries deep personal ties to IAIA with a BFA in Studio Arts and an MFA in Creative Writing, expressed her view that contemporary Native art functions “as a voice and a little prayer for transformation,” recognized the role that IAIA can play in developing language for artists to traverse boundaries, and envisioned growing the institution further. Painter and sculptor Jane Semple Umsted, who comes from a family of artists, shared about experiencing a lack of support during her education when she pursued Native-themed art, making her trustee appointment particularly meaningful. Museum professional Manuelito Wheeler, having grown up in the Navajo Nation, expressed a desire to use his leadership role to advocate for Native people who come to IAIA from reservation communities.
“I’m a third-generation IAIA student—graduate. And so, because I’ve been deeply invested in the school, and because I have such a passion for what it could be…I’m so invested because this is my life. This is my daughter’s life. This is my family’s [life]. My community. IAIA has been my family on so many levels, and that’s why I’m here, because I want to see it be what I know it could be, and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come.”
“I’m a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut, and I am a director, playwright, and performer—which is mostly what I’m known for—but I’m also a professor at Arizona State University (ASU), and I run a small program at Yale called the Indigenous Performing Arts Program as well. So basically, why I’m here is [that] I believe incredibly deeply that our stories are an expression of our sovereignty, and that there should be arts training programs that center Indigenous values and Indigenous thinking, and I continue to hear stories of harm from so many Native artists who go into the other programs, and they want a space in which their values are empowered—such as IAIA—and yet, so many places don’t offer that. So, I believe deeply in the work that IAIA does.”
“And I’m an artist, a sculptor, and a painter…When I was there [at the University of Oklahoma from] 1965 to 1969 as an art major, I did not get any—zero—support for my work that I was doing, which is all Native-themed, and in fact it was frowned upon, and you wouldn’t think that at the University of Oklahoma that that would be true, but it was…‘You don’t want to be doing that,’ but I’m sort of stubborn about that, and paid no attention to that and went on…And so, to be here today is just an amazing [opportunity], and I’m just so humbled to be among you all.”
“But to answer in a nutshell why I’m here, I’ll give you two general reasons. Number one is I’m here to be here for our Indian people, especially for our Indian people that grew up with a familiar lifestyle that I had and still have—is a rez lifestyle. And so, I’m here to help be a voice for them…help them be successful at IAIA. So that’s what I want, because I grew up on a rez, and that implies a lot of beauty and power, but it also implies a lot of pain and suffering, which I’ve witnessed and been a part of as well growing up. The second reason is these type of [leadership] roles … I don’t seek them out. Somehow these roles end up in in front of me. And so, I’m here to lend what I know, and in a humble way and a humorous way. Ahéhee. Thank you.”
“I’m glad to be here. Back in the late ‘90s, I helped create the master plan for your campus, and then I went on to help design—So, be the designer for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the mall here…And since then, most of my work is dealing in Native education, and mainly universities, creating places on a campus where that helps make the Native kids successful in their education so they’re not isolated … I’ve done it on campuses all throughout the whole West. Everything from Southern Ute all the way up to—just recently—to Agua Caliente Museum and Palm Springs and right to the first city—or the Chumash Tribe museum and trying to bring in their heritage—their architectural heritage—into the design…I’ve always followed IAIA over the years. I want to help make [IAIA] more successful.”
Afterward, IAIA board business was conducted. Following on the heels of President Biden’s proclamation of Indigenous People’s Day in 2021, as well as New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s recognition of the day as an official state holiday in 2019, the IAIA Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to recognize Indigenous People’s Day as a college holiday. Originally proposed by the IAIA Associated Student Government (ASG), the resolution enables students, staff, and faculty to celebrate the day with the greater Indigenous community in Santa Fe and beyond.
That evening at the Native-owned Crown and Crow—recommended by IAIA Trustee Charles W. Galbraith (Navajo)—the New Mexico Congressional delegation, comprised of Senator Ben Ray Luján and Representatives Teresa Leger Fernandez, Melanie Stansbury, and Gabe Vasquez, asserted their support of IAIA, the arts, Indigenous peoples, and Native issues. “But the responsibilities that we have as a delegation for this incredible institution, and the incredible artists and the creativity, and the creativity that is associated with solving major problems—not just around our country, but around the world—is why I’m so proud to support IAIA,” said Luján.
IAIA President Dr. Robert Martin, IAIA Board of Trustee Chair Loren Kieve, Senator Ben Ray Luján and Representatives Teresa Leger Fernandez, Melanie Stansbury, and Gabe Vasquez.
“But the responsibilities that we have as a delegation for this incredible institution, and the incredible artists and the creativity, and the creativity that is associated with solving major problems, not just around our country, but around the world, is why I’m so proud to support IAIA. I’m here to show my support. I’m ready to help in any way that I can.”
“Folks in New Mexico, we know a thing or two about digging our hands in the dirt, being connected to the land, understanding culture, understanding tradition, and respecting that and holding on to it as hard as we can…when you donate, and we support IAIA, it’s not just about the artists—it’s not just about the young people. It’s about our rivers. It’s about our mountains. It’s about our deserts. It’s about keeping cultural traditions alive that are so deeply important to the people of New Mexico, to the people of our district, and in general to the people of the Southwest. And I respect that. I love the work that IAIA does, and I will continue to be a partner to tribal nations in my district; I will continue to make sure that IAIA is supported because it provides critical opportunities.”
“And in Congress, as you know, we have a big role to play with regards to IAIA—I have a big role to play with IAIA. And you know, and we take it seriously—we take it seriously, not just because it’s part of our one in ten paychecks for the creative economy in New Mexico, but because of this role it plays nationally and internationally.”
“I have spent my entire career working on Tribal water rights and land rights issues, and so, I’m still so honored to be able to be in the fight for Indigenous sovereignty, Indigenous expression, the preservation of culture, of language, of history, and all of the things that IAIA does—every single day—by empowering and giving artists and writers and poets a space, to talk about history, to express themselves, and to hold up a mirror to society, because that is what artists do. And there is no time in which we need a mirror held up to us than we do right now in this very difficult moment in American history.”
The next day, on Wednesday, November 8, the IAIA delegation and their guests visited the DC offices of Representatives Teresa Leger Fernandez and Melanie Stansbury, Senators Martin Heinrich (who was represented by a staff member) and Ben Ray Luján. They also met with Anna Rathman and Mary Ford at the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which partnered with IAIA to increase programming for IAIA’s Land-Grant programs and the JGI’s Roots & Shoots youth program in Indigenous communities.
Afterward, attendees visited the Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023, featuring Indigenous artists on a national platform at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, where guest curator and former IAIA staff and faculty Dr. Lara Evans (Cherokee Nation) gave a private tour. IAIA funded the filming of short videos on the featured artists, Joe Feddersen (Arrow Lakes and Okanagan), Lily Hope (Tlingit) ’10 A-i-R ’22, Ursala Hudson (Tlingit) A-i-R ’22, Erica Lord (Athabaskan and Iñupiat) A-i-R ’17, Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy), and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) A-i-R ’18, who created the 55 artworks on display.
Private tour at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery.
IAIA leadership also visited the National Museum of Art to see The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans, which featured work by IAIA Trustee Rose B. Simpson, former IAIA Student and Faculty Linda Lomahaftewa (Hopi and Choctaw) ’65, Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo), Cannupa Hanska Luger (Manda, Hidatsa, and Arikara) ’11, Teri Greeves (Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma), and Keri Ataumbi (Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma) ’96, and many more esteemed Native artists, many who have ties to IAIA.
The IAIA Trustees and company later attended a private dinner at the Cosmos Club, where they had been invited by club member and former IAIA Trustee Barbara Davis Blum.
IAIA leadership then traveled back to Santa Fe and their homes elsewhere to continue to build upon the work of the past 61 years, while looking toward future successes of the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.
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Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is the only college in the world dedicated to the study of contemporary Native American and Alaska Native arts. IAIA offers undergraduate degrees in Cinematic Arts and Technology, Creative Writing, Indigenous Liberal Studies, Museum Studies, Performing Arts, and Studio Arts; graduate degrees in Creative Writing, Studio Arts, and Cultural Administration; and certificates in Broadcast Journalism, Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History. The college serves approximately 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) Native and non-Native American students from around the globe, representing nearly a hundred federally recognized tribes. Named one of the top art institutions by UNESCO and the International Association of Art, IAIA is among the leading art institutes in our nation and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
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