Institute of American Indian Arts Practices the Art of Sustainability

(SANTA FE, NM) - The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is showing its true color - green. The Institute recently certified two Gold and one Silver LEEDTM (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings on its growing campus.

The achievement of the multiple LEED certifications is no small feat, but it aligns well with IAIA's objective to offer high quality educational programs on a sustainable campus. "It's a high performance building for a higher education campus," Myra Villalobos, LEED Accredited Professional at Dyron Murphy Architects, P.C. said.

It takes a lot of coordination and careful consideration to have a building LEED certified. Since the buildings are constantly in use, each building features smart design strategies to maximize energy efficiency and provide a comfortable working space for students and staff. "An educational facility creates a healthy environment for large groups of people," Dyron Murphy, the architect of the new buildings, said.

LEED is a standardized, point based rating system that determines how sustainable a building is. This system helps to determine building performance and is used as a guide for architects, engineers, and owners to meet sustainability goals. The architecture firm that designed the buildings, Dyron Murphy Architects, P.C., is a native-owned firm dedicated to sustainable design. They work closely with Native American entities throughout the United States to incorporate both LEED principles and native culture into their designs.

Since its establishment in 1962 as an institute for innovative artists and educators, IAIA has offered forward thinking approaches to Native American arts education. In 2000, the institute established its permanent location in Santa Fe, and has since constructed several new buildings. Recent LEED certified buildings include, the Center for Lifelong Education, Science and Technology, and Sculpture and Foundry building. This constitutes 60,000 square feet of new LEED certified art space. The most notable building is the Science and Technology building, featuring a state-of-the-art digital dome theater, new media labs, and conservation/science labs, along with the world-class Museum of Contemporary Native Arts' permanent collection.

Serving as a national center of excellence in contemporary Native arts, IAIA is committed to sustainable growth. In celebration of its recent LEED certification, the campus invites students, staff, and community members to its Open House event on November 4th, 2011 from 4:30 to 6:30pm on the IAIA Campus. The Open House is free and open to the public. There will be refreshments, art displays, guided tours, and demonstrations from students and staff. The campus is located at 83 Avan Nu Po Road in Santa Fe, NM.

This information has been forwarded by Aboriginals Gallery, owners of websites for Native American Pueblo Pottery, Native American jewelry and Zuni fetish carvings. Proud to support the IAIA

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Fritz Scolder Retrospective at IAIA

Based on last evening's opening at the Institute for American Indian Art, a show featuring the works of Native American artist, Fritz Scholder, will please art lovers of all persuasions.

It was a pleasant evening in the gallery at IAIA. Cool temperatures encouraged attendees to mingle in the inviting IAIA courtyard. Jeans and polo shirts mixed with formal-skirted women and escorts in jackets-and-ties. A table of canapes satisfied any peckishness that guests brought to the event.

But the real satisfaction came from an extensive array of Scholder's lithographs, etchings and paintings, reflecting his unique view of the relationship between contemporary America and its indigenous people. According to his biography, Scholder was not raised as an Indian. He was born in Minnesota in 1937, attended high school in Pierre, South Dakota and graduated from Ashland High School in Wisconsin. Scholder's Indian heritage was one-quarter Luiseno, a Calfornia Mission tribe.

After moving to California with his family in 1957, he began an artistic journey that included numerous shows, five honorary degrees, and participation jn exhibitions around the world. Along the way, after receiving a Masters in Fine Art in 1964, he joined IAIA as Instructor in Advanced Art and Painting, where his tutelage encouraged scores of beginning Native Artists to develop their talents. He left IAIA in 1969.

But the IAIA never left him. This connection was the motivator for IAIA to mount this extraordinary retrospective of Scholder's work. Scholder passed in 2005. His artistic legacy, focusing on the national cliché' about American Indians and the guilt of the dominant culture in reference to its relationship with the land's original owners, lives on with freshness and vitality.

If you have a chance to visit the Fritz Scholder show, which runs through February 19, 2009, you will find it a stimulating view of Native American sensibilities. By the way, be sure to spend some time in the IAIA's gift shop. It is in its own right an expressive survey of the fine works of many very accomplished Native American artists.

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Brought to you by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its allied online galleries at Native-JewelryLink, Native-PotteryLink and Zunilink.

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Institute of American Indian Arts Receives $7.65 Million

Department of Education Awards Funding to Improve, Expand Facilities

Santa Fe, NM – The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) has announced $7.65 million in grants from the Department of Education to expand campus facilities. The award comes from the Department of Education’s Title III program that provides funding to “improve and strengthen the academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability of eligible institutions.”

A $1.65 million grant will support the construction of IAIA’s Foundry and Sculpture Center, a facility that will house the three-dimensional art program of IAIA’s Studio Arts degree. The new building will enable students to study woodworking, welding, forging, casting, ceramics and large scale metal, stone and glass sculpture.

IAIA’s new Science and Technology Building will be supported by a $3 million per year, two-year grant. This building will house a New Media Arts Center with advanced digital technologies and a multi-media presentation theater (to enhance the instruction capabilities of the New Media Arts degree program), a Museum Conservation Center to house IAIA’s National Collection of Contemporary Native American art, along with conservation teaching laboratories to provide students with hands-on training in collections care and conservation, and a Science Center that will contain laboratories and flexible instructional spaces to better deliver the science portion of the general education requirements of IAIA’s degree programs.

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Brought to you by Susanne and William Ernest Waites, proprietors of Aboriginals: Art of th First Person, a tribal art gallery with four web presences based on the special interests of tribal art collectors - Native-JewelryLink, Native-PotteryLink, TribalWorks and ZuniLink.

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Buffy Stainte-Marie to appear at IAIA event

This from the Institute of American Indian Arts, posted as received -

Celebrating a Half Century of Native American Art

Santa Fe, NM – The most “happening scene” in Santa Fe this August is one fans of the Institute of American Indian Arts won’t want to miss. IAIA’s annual benefit dinner and art auction “The ‘60s: A Revolution Begins” will celebrate the organization’s founding decade with a special live appearance by legendary musician and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie. IAIA founder Dr. George A. Boyce and his wife (and former IAIA staff member) Mrs. Oleta Merry Boyce will be honored posthumously with IAIA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Hosted by actor Raoul Trujillo and Chief of Protocol for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, Jill Momaday Gray, the evening’s festivities will kick off at 5 p.m. at the historic La Fonda hotel on Wednesday, August 20, 2008. All proceeds will go toward student scholarships and support services.

The event is being co-chaired by artist Connie Tsosie Gaussoin and community volunteer Jane Cooper Colman. Tsosie-Gaussoin notes, “We are excited to lend our support to this important event. IAIA has touched the lives of so many Native students, helping them to become successful artists. It feels good to raise more money for much needed scholarships.” Many of these former students turned art world stars are giving back by donating pieces to the auction. Among them are Tony Abeyta, Denise Wallace, Christine McHorse, Doug Hyde and many, many more. Event co-chair Jane Cooper Colman adds, “What could be more important than your education? It is the one thing that can never be taken away from you. The ability to offer an excellent education to talented Native Americans across North America is a win-win for everyone. Everyone should rejoice in the opportunity to support the Institute of American Indian Arts, which in turn supports the arts and artists of tomorrow.”

Special guest Buffy Sainte-Marie became famous for her anti-war songs in the ‘60s. Her name even appeared on White House stationery among those whose music “deserved to be suppressed.” Since that time, she has recorded seventeen albums, three television specials and won an Academy Award for the song “Up Where We Belong.” She has been an instructor at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and her digitally manipulated paintings have appeared at the IAIA Museum, other galleries and museums across the country, and in Canada.

Honoree Dr. George Boyce was instrumental in the formation of IAIA. Appointed its first Superintendent by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1961, Boyce later hired Lloyd Kiva New as IAIA’s first art department director. For many years Boyce shared his administrative talents and extensive experience to benefit IAIA. Dr. Boyce’s family will accept his Lifetime Achievement award on his behalf.

Individual tickets start at $125, but special sponsorship opportunities are available as well. For more information about purchasing tickets or the event, please call 1.800.804.8263 or email cgasper@iaia.edu . For more information about the Institute of American Indian Arts, please visit www.iaia.edu.

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Offered in furtherance of awareness and appreciation of Native American tribal art by William & Susanne Waites, owners of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and publishers of ZuniLink, Native-JewelryLink, Native-PotteryLink and Tribalworks

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Institute of American Indian Arts Names New Museum Director

The Institute of American Indian Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of Patsy Phillips as Director of the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum. She will begin her position on August 11, 2008. “She brings a wealth of both professional experience and personal attributes to fill the critical vacancy of IAIA Museum Director,” Jim Santini, member of the IAIA Board of Trustees and Chair of the Museum Committee notes. “She will be a long-term asset to both the Institute and Museum.”

Dr. Robert G. Martin (Cherokee), President of the Institute of American Indian Arts, said he is “…extremely pleased that we have selected someone with Patsy Phillips’ credentials, vision, experience and skills to lead the IAIA Museum. She values collaboration and will bring energy and enthusiasm in building on our museum’s strong foundation as a center for important exhibitions and programs relative to contemporary Native American art.” Phillips was selected after an extensive national search, and joins IAIA after working at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C for more than eight years. While there, she developed and managed several programs. As Director for NMAI’s participation in the world-famous Venice Biennale, she organized the sponsorship and promotion of artists such as Edgar Heap of Birds and James Luna. After noticing NMAI’s need for a unit dedicated to contemporary Native arts, Phillips oversaw the planning and development of a strategic plan for contemporary arts which was launched this May. Before working for the National Museum of the American Indian, she was both Interim Executive Director and Program Development Director at Atlatl, Inc, a national service organization for Native American arts in Phoenix, AZ.

A member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Phillips says, “I am thrilled to begin my new post as the Director for the IAIA Museum. I look forward to working with the smart and dedicated IAIA staff and students who are committed to the advancement of contemporary Native arts. I plan to find ways to work collaboratively with other organizations across the country so that together we can change the way contemporary Native art is understood and represented.” She holds a Master of Arts degree in non-fiction writing from Johns Hopkins University, and a Graduate Certificate in Museum Administration from Harvard University.

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