2017 Events
UPsideDown xMASS, Omp Pah Pah Melodic Rhyme,
Deck the Halls with Endangered Holly,
Frederica Hall & Eriko Okugwa Starley
Flagstaff Modern Contempary Art Gallery, & Flagstaff TEA Co.
DEC, 2017
******************************************************************************
Hope and Trauma in a Poisoned Land
Hope and Trauma in a Poisoned Land explored the impact of uranium mining on Navajo lands and people. The art exhibition featured work by twenty local and regional artists, including Navajo and non-Native artists.
Through the participating artists, Hope and Trauma shared stories and perspectives from Navajo people of their experiences due to radiation-related impacts to their bodies, their land, their water, their animals, and the natural materials and objects they use in their everyday lives. Art work was based on a series of interactions, shared stories, and educational programs that took place in Cameron, Arizona, and in Flagstaff, in October 2016. Artists attended the four-day intensive education program which immersed them in the landscape where uranium mining and contamination has occurred on the Navajo Nation. They learned from Navajo community members, scientists, health care professionals, mental health professionals, and other experts about the impacts of uranium mining.
Artwork in the exhibition included sculpture, painting, photography, installation art, textiles, film, virtual reality film, poetry, and performance. The participating artists were: Jeremy Singer, Venaya Yazzie, Helen Padilla, Anna Tsouhlarakis, Kim Hahn, Jane Lilly Benale, Esther Belin, Klee Benally, Mark Neumann, Elisa Rosales, Rebekah Nordstrom, Elbert Dayzie, Jocelyne Champagne Shiner, Jerrel Singer, Edie Dillon, Frederica Hall, Chip Thomas, Anne Collier, Malcolm Benally, Amy Martin, Pash Galbavy, Milton Tso, Debra Edgerton, and the Death Convention Singers.
From 1944 to 1986, nearly 20 million tons of uranium was extracted from Navajo lands. At the time, Navajo miners and residents were not informed of the health impacts of working in the mines, or of the impact on their lands. Many Navajo people have died of kidney failure and cancer from conditions linked to uranium contamination. Research from the CDC shows uranium in babies born now.
More than one thousand abandoned uranium mines are located on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Hundreds are located within fifty miles of Flagstaff near and in Cameron, Arizona. The federal government recently agreed to commit over $1 billion to clean up 94 abandoned mines on the Navajo Nation. The estimated cost to clean up all abandoned mines is likely too large to calculate.
Hope and Trauma in a Poisoned Land is a partnership between the Cameron Chapter House of the Navajo Nation, the Flagstaff Arts Council, University of New Mexico Community Environmental Health Program, and Northern Arizona University.
Two and a Half Minutes & the Sky is Turning a Pale Yellow Green is a collaborative performance led by Flagstaff artist Frederica Hall. A collaborative performance between artist Clayson Benally, Jeneda Benally, Jones Benally, Margaret Dewar, Frederica Hall, Paul More, Brandon G Rawls, and Eriko Okugawa Starley. A creative journey of music, butho dance, poetry song, whispers from life stories new and ancient of the paths that are set before us. Which will we take? And where will we find ourselves in the dawn light?
This special opening act performance is by artists participating in Hope and Trauma in a Poisoned Land, the new exhibition about the impact of uranium mining on Navajo lands and people. Following the opening performance, Sihasin will perform a full concert.
******************************************************************************
Criollo Gallery Flagstaff featuring work by Frederica Hall. 09/30/2017
***********************************************************************
Breaking the Barrier
The Flagstaff Arts Council is pleased to present Breaking the Barrier, a Juried exhibition which features interactive artworks in a variety of mediums that engage with all five senses; sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. This exhibition promises to be unlike any other show presented at the Coconino Center for the Arts.
The View From 11 Endangered Bees eyes.
2017 Featured Artist AZ Handmade and Fire on the Mountain Galleries
