Travois First Fridays seeking up to six Indigenous artists

Travois is seeking North American Indigenous artists to apply for its next round of Travois First Fridays, a juried visual art exhibition series that has public openings at its headquarters, 310 W. 19th Terr., in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, MO. Indigenous artists, including American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiians, working in 2D and 3D are encouraged to apply through Friday, Jan. 31, 2019 here: https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=6131  

“Our Travois First Fridays jury picked nine amazing Indigenous artists who shared their art at Kansas City’s First Fridays, and we’re excited to see which artists are featured next,” said Travois CEO Elizabeth Glynn. “Our goal with this exhibition series is to highlight the strength and modern-day vitality of Indigenous artists. We want to expose Kansas City to new artists and their work, along with the rich culture of Indigenous people and Indian Country.”

The exhibition call is open to North American Indigenous artists — from the United States (American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians); Canada (First Nations people, Inuit, Métis or citizens of a Canadian-recognized tribe); and Mexico (Indigenous people of Mexico). Established and emerging artists are encouraged to participate. Artists working in 2D and 3D works are eligible. Each applying artist is asked to submit between 12 and 20 artworks for the jury’s consideration. The fee to apply is $15. The jury will select up to six artists.

Travois will provide a $2,500 honorarium for each artist selected by the Travois First Friday jury and does not take any commission from artists’ sales.

Jurors for the series include:

  • Gina Adams (Ojibwa-Lakota descent), contemporary hybrid artist and faculty at Naropa University
  • Norman Akers (Osage Nation), artist and associate professor and director of graduate studies at the University of Kansas
  • Rachael Cozad, Rachael Cozad Fine Art, and former director of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; Madison Group Fine Art Appraisals
  • Thomas Farris (Otoe-Missouria, Cherokee), manager of Exhibit C Gallery, owned by Chickasaw Nation
  • Bruce Hartman, executive director of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
  • Sherry Leedy, artist and owner of Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art
  • America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), artist and publishing editor of First American Art Magazine
  • Jami Powell (Osage Nation), associate curator of Native American art at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art
  • Gaylord Torrence, senior curator of American Indian art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The exhibition series continues with an opening reception on March 1, 2019, with Holly Wilson (Delaware Nation/Cherokee). Wilson is a contemporary multimedia artist who works in a variety of media including bronzes, encaustic, photography, glass and clay. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1992 in Ceramics and a Master of Arts in Ceramics in 1994 and her Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture in 2001, both from Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas. Wilson now works and lives in Mustang, OK.

2019 First Friday reception opening dates at Travois are: May 3, 2019; June 7, 2019; August 2, 2019; September 6, 2019; October 4, 2019; and November 1, 2019. Each selected artists is invited to give a short talk about their work during the opening reception. More information and an opportunity for pre-registration will be published this spring at https://travois.com/news-events/first-fridays/.

Photographer and Social Documentarian Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) was the series’ founding launch artist in 2017 with her “Seeds of Culture: The Portraits and Stories of Native American Women” exhibition. Featured artists in 2018 included: Chris T. Cornelius (Oneida), Porfirio Gutiérrez (Zapotec), Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota), Gina Herrera (Pueblo of Tesuque), Joseph Erb (Cherokee), Luanne Redeye (Seneca Nation of Indians and Hawk Clan), Dakota Mace (Diné/Navajo), and Nelda Schrupp (Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation).

About Travois First Fridays

Travois First Fridays is a visual art exhibition series featuring North American indigenous artists in that debuted in 2017 and is continuing through 2019 at the Travois headquarters in the heart of metro Kansas City. Our mission is to support and promote American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, First Nation, Inuit, Métis, and Indigenous Mexican artists through juried exhibition. Our vision is to see Indigenous artists more prominently featured and powerfully supported in metropolitan Kansas City.

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