Master plan for the IAIA campus

Standing in the middle of the “dance circle,” where the school’s annual powwow takes place (officially referred to as the “central plaza”), you can look in almost any direction and glimpse the various buildings that the past few years of development have garnered for the school. These buildings are painted in various earth tones—burnt orange and tan being the predominant shade applied to the stucco walls of the structures.

As you stand in the center of the circle, you might come to the realization that all of the buildings are radiating out from this central point, and, if you were any good at directions, you might also realize that the circle itself points outwards to the four directions.

With a building plan built to accommodate both solstice and lunar lines and buildings made to resemble some type of New Age adobe housing, this campus certainly isn’t like that of other schools. The Chronicle decided to follow up with IAIA President Dr. Robert Martin for more information on the setup of this unique campus. Read More

The obelisk on the Plaza: Easy to ignore, unless you're artist Charlene Teters.

How many times have you walked though the plaza, strolled right by the obelisk—the tall pointy monument on the same side as Haagen-Dazs—and never once stopped to consider why it was there or what it said?

When the artist and political activist Charlene Teters saw the obelisk, she not only noticed it, she saw it as an invitation to create art.

Teters shared her experience of recreating the obelisk as well as creating other installation pieces during a talk entitled “Perceptions and Portrayals: The Education of Charlene Teters” at SITE Santa Fe on Nov. 8, 2011. Read More

Brooch by Fleetwood made of cast iron.

What is jewelry? What can it be?

Brian Fleetwood’s jewelry is alive. Fleetwood sits at a work desk, bent over a piece of metal. The metal glints in the setting sun that streams through the high windows in the jewelry studio, a yellow light that finds the dust motes suspended in the air on these early winter afternoons. Fleetwood pauses, unbends; he’s working on a piece of silver, but the metal isn’t uniform, isn’t smooth or flat, doesn’t have any uniform shape—it is organic. It is the silver ghost of a broken piece of honeycomb—ghost because the process that made it, centrifugal casting in which molten metal floods a plaster mold, burns away the original honeycomb, and leaves only its shadow for the metal to fill. But the silver is solid; when he hands it to me I can feel its weight in my hand, and Fleetwood works to even out hexagonal walls with a small steel pick. He plans to make this piece into a pendant. Read More

Imagine driving Eastbound on Interstate 40.

You’ve already crossed the California/Arizona state line, and you’re reaching the eastern end of Arizona. The New Mexico border is a just a few miles ahead. You notice plastic animals: a deer, bear, and elk are propped against red cliffs towering above a tall wooden fence with “Chief Yellowhorse” scrawled across it. This is the first of many trading posts you will encounter while driving parallel to Route 66 in this part of the U.S.

As you continue east, truck stops and hotels scatter along both sides of the freeway. Signs encourage travelers to stop and enjoy Gallup, NM. Downtown Gallup sits to the right of the freeway alongside railroad tracks and rusting warehouse buildings. You see signs sporting illustrated chiefs and arrows in neon pink, red and yellow. They read “Richardson’s Cash Pawn. Indian Jewelry, Rugs, Pawn-Loans, Navajo Wholesale.” You feel as though you’ve entered a place that has remained untouched by time. Read More

"No Barking" a hand-painted cel art edition from the Chuck Jones

Once you have heard a strange audience burst into laughter at a film you directed, you realize what the word joy is all about. —Chuck Jones, 1912-2002

My experience in Chuck Jones Gallery at Santa Fe: a room full of Looney Tunes on the wall, which bring back childhood memories. Looney Tunes has always brought a smile to my face—the very first time I watched these cartoons as a young child,  I loved them.  As a child, I was even nicknamed after a cartoon character because of my shy voice and, even today, I am still called Tweety by my family. Read More

Most students come to the Institute of American Indian Arts to expand their creativity by  practicing and experimenting with their chosen mediums. There are many stories told through the paintings, drawings, and photographs displayed along the walls of the academic building.

Black-and-white photographs of tombstones, graves, and monuments can be found on a wall near the photography room. They cascade from images of the Virgin de Guadalupe and angelic monuments, to domino-like headstones found in the Santa Fe National Cemetary, to headstones of ancestors found in the photographer’s reservation, Mescalero Apache, NM.

The title of the collection is called Graveyards have “dominoes” that fall into “broken teeth” and ends with a few “Balatches” and the photographer is Shasheen Balatche. Read More

Good doctor; bad outfit.

Remember when Doogie Howser, M.D. sat each night at his computer by the window, pondering his entire day’s work at the hospital, typing on his electronic journal, reflecting about his smart braniac maneuvers of saving lives, performing heroic gestures…in a white overcoat that covered his awful choices in bad clothing? I do, but I didn’t have a computer, nor was I the braniac Doogie was. I was more like Vinne Delpino, his loser best friend who snuck in and out of the house with greasy slimy hair.

Growing up in the ‘80s, MTV was a staple in the fashion industry, as kids awaited shows like Cindy Crawford’s House of Style, as well as the ultimate VMAs with people such as Madonna, George Michael, Paula Abdul, and Michael Jackson, who paved ways for future superstar appearances of Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and so forth—the cycle continues today as newer faces are greeted by the old faces of yesterday’s fashion icons. Read More