Welcome to Art of the City, Santa Fe, New Mexico, known for the most amazing art from all over the world, specifically for native American art.
Art of the City Presents Four Awesome Artists — All Native American From Different Parts of Indian Country Country
GEORGE RIVERA
ROXANNE SWENTZELL
RAYMOND NORDWALL
NOCONA BURGESS
By VICTOR BENNETT FORBES “What’s significant about this set of programs,” says RuthUTH-ANN THORN is an art professional with over two Ann, “is that we’re telling the story of the people who are creating decades of experience representing the works of worldan impact on the world through their art.” In these vignettes, famous and up-and-coming artists in all facets of the the common thread is about going into a place where artists industry. From sales to publishing to operating her own galleries — the latest of which is a sparkling diamond of a showplace, have chosen to reside for 25 years or more and to examine what Exclusive Collections, in her hometown of San Diego — she each has extracted from their environment. “Although the art has grown into a prominent figure in her field as her clients and they create is important and what we reflect upon, without their back-story we would not have the art.” the artists she represents will attest. Ruth-Ann’s goal is to tell the story of But Ruth-Ann is not simply an art the artist — examining what they’ve had to dealer. She is the Angel of Art – a messenger endure through their life to get to the point tasked with helping humanity as we journey where they’re able to take all those experiences through life on Earth. Her specific field of and pour that passion into their paintings and concentration is the Art Area and Ruthsculptures. “There’s only one person in any Ann takes her job earnestly. Much like the given point of time that can create what we Blues Brothers, she is on a “Mission from see visually,” says Ruth-Ann. “What the artist God” fighting to bring the highest level of has experienced in their life is the secret sauce human creative skill and imagination before to what they’re able to create. There’s only one the public for the people’s edification and person at one given time on the planet that’s inspiration. able to create an individual work of art. I want The artists she champions are those who to tell that story.” produce works to be appreciated primarily The reason why a person stands in for their beauty and emotional power, as the front of a work of art in a museum and is following interviews from Ruth-Ann’s latest filled with emotion has far more to do than media foray, “Art of the City,” attest. just what they see visually it’s the energy “I’ve always wondered,” she muses, that’s captured from the life of one individual. “Do artists create from within or are they Artists are bringing their energy...a time stamp influenced by their surroundings? Why did that we then see and feel in a tangible form. they choose where they live? What do they get Art of the city is telling the story of how from their environment? If they were to live an artist uses their life experience to create somewhere else, would their art be different?” These are the questions that will be answered as Ruth-Ann what only they could ever create. One person, at one time, explores cities across the country in her documentary series “Art creating art that impacts the world forever, the outcome of their of the City.” DNA and life experience.
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without exploring one’s locale, we would not be seeing the art we see. Ruth-Ann lives the motto she created many years ago: “We are called to be light in the darkness, and the salt in this funky world we are living in. It’s God’s work and this is what He’s called us to.” In a world of changing tastes and all manner of uncontrollable circumstances from the economy to the weather, Ruth-Ann remains optimistic, “Everything changes,” she says, “and you just have to roll with it.” Calling in from the Denver airport after a “great show” with Michael Flohr she notes that “A lot of good people came out, and there were good sales and good commissions. I’m grateful because these days in the art world you don’t know any more what’s going to happen.” Art of the City started in November of 2019 but it had been on Ruth-Ann’s mind for about three years. “The premise is I started thinking about the great artists that we see in museums and the artwork for which they are known. Take the great Impressionists, for example. They all lived in Parisian neighborhoods so you will see Lautrec’s Moulin Rouge, gardens that Monet created at Giverny — you’ll see this iconic imagery and they all have a similar take. I wondered if those guys didn’t live in Paris, would we be seeing something different, a different view than what we are seeing on the canvas, something different because of where they chose to live? They’ve extracted from their surroundings and painted them so it wasn’t just the surroundings but the energy of the surroundings. That holds true for today in that wherever an artist chooses to reside, they pull from their environment, take what it has to offer and pour it out in their work so it becomes a time stamp of their locale. The artists’ interpretation of what’s going on wherever they choose to reside becomes a document not only of the place in which they live, but of their talent and what they extract from their surroundings.” The first city Ruth-Ann chose to shoot her initial footage was San Diego because “That’s where I’m from and I work with artists there. I started with Victor Ochoa — he was the founder of Chicano Park. In the late 60s and early 70s he led a group
of artists that protested against something called Operation Wetback which was the United States’ desire to get rid of Mexican Americans. Immigrating with his family as a child from Mexico and then getting deported as his parents were not citizens informs his work.” Santa Fe is the second in the series. “I’m choosing artists who have been living and working in a city for 25 years or more so they are entrenched. That’s one of the criteria. The other is that they impact the world with their art so I am really limiting this to artists who have made their mark and continue to do so.” The interviews are more about who they are as human beings and their back-story so that when we are looking at the work they’re creating, we are understanding their life experience and how that plays a role in what they choose to create. Continues Ruth=Ann, “It’s less about the actual art (although we show the art and that’s important) and more about the artists. Without their life experience you’d never have the work that you have in front of you. Rather than approaching it like most documentary filmmakers do when they’re looking at art, Ruth-Ann is looking at “Who are you and what happened to you. Something happened to everybody. What I want the viewers to understand and experience is that the great art that has impact on the world is not just about how they create the art, how they mix the paint or the training they received in art school. It is about the experiences they have in their life, their toolbox so to speak, that is poured out into whatever it is they are creating.” Exploring the premise that if somebody lived somewhere different, history would be different is the basis of Art of the City. “It’s nature vs. nurture in art, ” Ruth-Ann concludes, “and without exploring one’s locale, we would not be seeing the art we see.” With unbridled enthusiasm, then, Ruth-Ann ventures into Santa Fe to interview four artists of Native American ancestry about whom she states, “The things these artists create never cease to amaze.”
GEORGE RIVERA
George Rivera is an amazing art legend in Santa Fe. This is one of the most exciting interviews I’ve ever given. So George, thank you so much for having me here. Your studio is amazing. Walking through, I’m just completely blown away. I wanted to come here because I really wanted to hear your story and hear what inspires you. I decided at an early age that it wasn’t just all about the art market for me. The art had to have meaning and it had to have an impact on my community first and then beyond that.... You’ve got a lot of different subject matter
within the work. Where do you pull from?
Where I live is the biggest inspiration. And so, I live in the Pueblo and our traditions are very much something that I want to express and so I do Buffalo Dancers, Deer Dancers. I’ve done different animals. I had this concept for an artistic building and sculptures and collaborated with several artists in the eight Northern pueblos. And we ended up turning into a cultural center with a museum built with a public style of architecture and it became an amazing art training place for the natives in this area.
Santa Fe, where you’ve lived here pretty much your whole life, is an art Mecca, pretty much like New York and maybe LA. Have you seen any changes? What are your thoughts on Santa Fe? It’s true you’re not going to find another city like Santa Fe. It’s so unique with how close the tribes are surrounding the city. It’s the native culture and the Spanish culture and the mixing of the cultures that is respected and has been retained in this area that makes it so strong. I know that you’ve had some hardships and maybe you can share what you feel comfortable sharing. Well, yeah. A few years ago I lost my son to a tragic car accident, an innocent accident. Somebody had a heart attack an, and crashed into our babysitter and he, my son, was paralyzed and he lived for 14 months, but his injuries in his spinal cord were too much and he couldn’t make it. We talked to him about what does he want to be known by and he happened to be an amazing hoop dancer. After he passed away we’re all very hurt and just, kinda didn’t
know how to really get out of that dark spot. I did a couple of paintings of him and then I did a sculpture of him. And so I figured to take his energy and his legacy and put it into a medium that I have that I can respond to. Tell me a little bit about this Foundation you’ve set up. Lightning Boy Foundation. The goal is to teach young kids, native Americans, how to hoop dance. My son
who passed away, we wanted to keep his story going. And so we founded the dance Foundation in his name. And so with these fundraisers, we pay for the children’s outfits, we pay for their travel for them to go and compete in Phoenix up to Hurt Museum. This is the lightning bolt, which represents his Tayla name, his Indian name, take a window. And he was a hoop dancer. And so he was, this is when he was six years old and he, every time he created the world and had it up in the air and then set it down, he would jump over. That’s incredible. That’s really like, to me, I feel like he’s in the heavens. You really feel that he has joy and that’s a powerful piece.
ROXANNE SWENTZELL Roxanne is one of those artists from Santa Fe who has really impacted the sculptural world with her naturalistic sculptures of not just men or women, but really an indigenous combination of both. She is one of the most profound women here in Santa Fe. I’m so happy to be able to come to your studio and talk with you. So what was it like growing up? Did you grow up with both mom and dad or what was your background? My background is my mother was Santa Clara Pueblo and my father is of German descent. How did that affect you when you were in school? There was a lot of pain about fitting in, not fitting in and trying to find out who you are. Given that my tribal inheritance was very damaged from the genocide and everything that was done, it
was handed down to me on that side. So there was a lot of hurt and pain that had to be worked through there. And then I never fit in in my father’s world because I was too brown. So they just saw me as, they didn’t know what I was, they figured I was a Mexican or something, so I was just other, so I was not welcome in that side of the world. So that was always any gender. It’s just two
difficult. This is a good example of a
very early piece I did probably in my late teens, come back, you know, through the grapevine, but I find it an extraordinary, piece showing how I’m struggling with the two sides of myself and cultural differences and also as you can tell, it doesn’t have sides trying to come together.
It’s called “Holding Myself Together.” Did you use the art as a child? Do you ever remember any art pieces that you did that were an expression of what you were feeling at that time? I am forever, forever grateful that my mother handed me clay as a child because I struggled a lot with language because I had a speech impediment to start with so I couldn’t even communicate simple things very easily. But
she handed me clay and immediately I started to create little people out of the clay that were expressing what I was trying to express to my mother. So I never thought of it as art, it was a language to me. I always laugh. This place is everything to me. This is where I was born. This is where I grew up and me being a Pueblo woman from this area I can’t help but be grounded in the dirt here and be affected by the
sunlight here. You’re absorbing from everything and bringing it out. So this piece is called “Sitting On My Mother’s Back” and it’s a piece I did about our relationship to Mother Earth. I do a lot of female figures now that represent the earth herself and she is the earth and she’s got two figures sitting on top of her. These two figures symbolize all of us, using and participating and living our lives on earth, but not necessarily acknowledging her. And she’s a little forgotten, obviously, she’s not being recognized or loved or honored very much. He’s sitting here sort of pompously holding his apple. It’s a reverse on Eve. He’s taking the fruits of her labor and what she has to give and even he’s clothed are her hair and acting as if it’s all I think that’s beautiful. And that’s why people really respond in such a deep way. You know, when they look his when, it’s really, it all came from her. at your work maybe. Wow. So that’s a statement on let’s remember again where everything we have comes from and give her real recognition and honor for that. Art, to go sell art, is a very Western way of thinking. In my culture, you didn;t ,ake art to go and sell. That’s a Western thought. So I took advantage of that in a way and going, I’m going to take what I learned from my indigenous culture and I’m going to put my art out in the Western world, but it’s going to have a message that comes from this world over here trying to bridge that gap.
And also it’s an emotional and that’s the one thing I found out: that all humans have one common language and it’s their emotion.
What an incredible journey we just took with this amazing sculptor. Roxanne really brings the whole spirit of Santa Fe alive. And I love the fact that her whole essence of who she is as a sculptor comes from the earth. It comes from who she is as a native American woman and she’s just profound in every way. It was just a wonderful time.
RAYMOND NORDWALL
Santa Fe’s Canyon Alley is a destination for art lovers who come from all over to see these many galleries. And I’m on my way to Raymond Nordwall studio and we’re going to see what this internationally acclaimed native American artist has created. We can see why artists like Raymond have made their home here in Santa Fe, it’s such a beautiful place and it’s been an artist colony since the turn of the century. The native Americans referred to it as the place that the Sundances and we can see why artists are attracted to this community from all over the world. I’ve been really excited to meet with you. After meeting you at a NIGA, I think it was artists for the cover. Yeah, you are. And that was kind of when I think we first started talking and I wanted to really feature the best native American artists here in Santa Fe. And you’re one of those, what was it like your early childhood, like your early beginnings?
I always drew and I remember actually the moment that it all clicked, I was alone in my dad’s van in the garage, just drawing. And I remember it all clicked is like drawing and just comparing, comparing lines, negative space, positive space all it is is comparing. And so that really inspired me. And because I’m so quiet, I mean, my Pawnee name is Quiet Bear. When I started doing these drawings and paintings girls would say, ‘Raymond, you’re such a good artist. Can you draw me this?’ And I was like, Hey, that’s pretty cool. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And they still remember that, that I was the artist growing up and I started selling my work, really young and galleries and when I was 12, 13. I used to dance in pow wows and so that’s my link to the native culture growing up, going to Pow wows. So like this is a traditional dancer and I used to dance, the fancy dance.
Most people think that we as native Americans are all the same people. I always try to learn a little bit about the culture. So with Pawnee, what did you as a child get from that? Well, they’re really into farming. I’m not into farming, but I love painting them and depicting them. I grew up going to Pawnee every year and going to the Pawnee Pow Wow I learned how to dance and I still go back and that’s, that’s my mother’s home and I still have family there. Well my mom was Pawnee and we used to go to Pow Wows all the time. She loved Indian art. She used to commission native artists when I was young and so I was surrounded by Indian art. I do wildlife and I do plein air painting, but I always come back to native subject matter cause that’s my therapy.- I feel close to my mom and also like that’s why I do birds. I, cause I did a lot of hummingbirds and even fat, little angry birds. I started doing humming birds after my first little boy passed away. Jack. and my wife at the time had all these hummingbirds come really close to us and people gave us pots and paintings of hummingbirds not knowing the symbolism of the native culture. And so I still do them even 20 years later. A lot of my work has to do with my therapy for my mom and my son. It made me realize
that we all have a certain time on this earth and whatever he had to accomplish he did in two months and six days. You know, in Lucenea culture we call hummingbirds are called Tishmal aAnd we believe that that is the spirit of our family and ancestors coming back to greet us and bring us the message. Exactly. that’s in our culture too, that’s why I do with them is ev-
erything. That’s why I deal with them is everything. That means my therapy. It’s everything. If you hadn’t gravitated towards art as a child, what do you, what other things do you think you would’ve, okay.
I’ve never considered that. I mean, it’s funny.One woman’s asked me, don’t you get tired of painting? I’m like, it’s like breathing for me. It’s like a prayer too. I feel closest to my families who have gone, closest to God when I’m painting and so it’s everything to
me. I can’t even consider what I would be.
Yeah, I did one after my son died and it was called, it was a Pawnee guy sitting next to a window and it was Is there any one piece that you or theme that you’ve called “I’ll Trade the rest of my tomorrows for a single created in the last almost 40 years of painting that real- yesterday”, and it’s right after Jack died. Those paintings are always therapeutic to me. ly has stood out to you?
NOCONA BURGESS
Today we’re going into the studio of Nocona Burgess and we’re going to see some of his amazing paintings of Comanche people. I’m really excited to see his work, but I’m also excited to hear the history of where he comes from. Thank you so much for having me here. Nicona. I’ve been a fan of your work. I’ve seen it a couple of times, obviously at Indian market. I’m originally from Oklahoma, kind of grew up all over the country. Instead of being a military brat, I was the education brat. My dad and mom have degrees. My dad’s got a couple of master’s degrees and a PhD, so we’re always whenever he got a new degree, we were off to Pennsylvania, Montana, he
was the head of department here teaching this, doing that. They had it tough and I’ve always told myself, my parents worked hard to have given me a good life even when they were going to school and working tough jobs they still provided, they made sure that I had what I needed and as we kind of slowly grew together, cause my parents were teenagers when they had me. And so we just kind of slowly grew together. My mom was 19 and my dad was 18. My dad jokes that I made all his graduations. So I made high school, junior college, college, master’s, , PhD. Did you have any adversity growing up? My mom was one of eight children. She was poor and
her dad was actually a code-talker in the US Army in World War II, a Comanche code talker in the army. That heritage is so ingrained in your DNA and who you are. But yet, through our own country, we’ve had to figure out being on the poverty line. What a success story that your parents were able to get through all of this through blood, sweat and tears, literally. What was that moment that it kind of turned for you when you said, ‘Okay, I’m all in, I’m going to be a professional artist. I thinki I messed it. When I was doing all the casino stuff, I noticed that I’d been missing it. Like I wasn’t playing instruments, I wasn’t painting, I wasn’t drawing. I was just working two cell phones, just in the eye, you know. And so when I, and it took a lot and I knew that I couldn’t start back up. I knew I needed to get back and finish my degree. I needed assignments, I needed projects, so it was good for me not only to get my degree, but to get an art program says, ‘Okay, you’ve got three paintings to do by the end of the month,’. So I got into that, that routine of painting on a schedule.
granddad. And on these pieces I actually put wooden letters mounted on there and their Comanche words. So coati means low people. And so I just kind of put that on there. And then on this one it says new moon and command, sir, we call us those new new, but new moon means like one individual command chain. So I just kind of use those words and spelling, just, something different, something contemporary. I’ve traveled around the world doing lectures about Comanche culture, my family culture, which is chief Quanah Parker, I’m a descendant of him. Wow, that’s a pretty rich history. And so I always tie that in with the art that I’m painting. And even if I’m not painting Comanche’s I’m trying to find history or stories to tell on these canvases about these people. Cause I paint real people, they’re not stylized Indians or ‘noble savages’. These are real people from photographs.
You have the history, kind of the lineage when you paint. Your work is really chronicling the history of your own They’re my great, great grandfather. My mom’s side, tribe and then also other research that you’ve done my mom’s actually, her name was Leanora Parker. And which pulls in your educational background, your roots so he’s my great, great grandfather. He’s my granddad’s So these two paintings are both Corner Parker.
from your parents. It’s poured out onto the canvas. It’s going to be here forever. And the other thing I really love is that that the images you’re looking at are all black and white and these are bringing them to life and full color. I always say that I sort of feel like I’m breathing life back into them because there are red blankets and purple blankets and bandanas and faces. And you know, I’ve done some, a series of some contemporary native women archers. And so I do contemporary people because I always want to tell people our story didn’t end in 1890 or 1920. I said these are the same people. We’re the same people, we’re just wearing polos and blue jeans, 14,000 years documented and we’re still here. that’s what I said, we’re no different. I said, well, we’reno different, we’re in different clothes. It’s a different time. It’s a different fight. Some of us are fighting. Some of us are making our way through different resources of ed-
ucation and casino and gambling and timber and fishing rights and water rights. We’re still doing the same things, and that’s kind of the main thing — like no matter how successful or how much money you have in the bank or how many magazine covers you’ve been on, you have to take care of your people. Like I said, my parents came from a tough background. There weren’t all these programs when they were younger and growing up and so I just really make sure that I pay attention to what’s happening with people in need and things like that and make sure that I’m helping take care of them, pitching in. So that’s, that’s what I’d like my legacy to be.
Meeting with Nokona today has been so amazing because I’ve learned so much about the rich history that he comes from and the fact that he’s actually royalty when it comes to native American history. His parents really played a very important role in pushing for education for themselves and then also for him. I see that he has taken all of those giftings and is bringing them together now with his artwork a nd it’s acting as not only great art but great historical material so everybody can really learn about his history as a Comanche. The work itself is just passionate and beautiful. What a great, great person and a great artist. I just enjoyed every minute of it. So we’ve adventured in this amazing place called Santa Fe, New Mexico. What an incredible journey. We got to meet four absolutely incredible artists, all of native American descent, and we’ve heard their stories and we’ve seen their artwork, and it’s been such an amazing adventure. I hope you enjoyed Art of the City, Santa Fe, and what a great place to end it right here in the middle of this sacred hoop dancing circle where more artists are sure to come. So join us for the next episode of Art of the City.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT RUTH-ANN THORN’S DOCUSERIES “ART OF THE CITY” E-MAIL RUTHANNTHORN@ME.COM