The Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, which began in 1999, is a biennial program that celebrates contemporary Native American art and casts a spotlight on the works of leading Indigenous artists. Four artists are selected each round from an outside panel, and a fifth artist known as the “invited Fellow,” is selected by an external Fellowship Advisory Committee in collaboration with the curator. Receiving the Fellowship is a big deal. It means an unrestricted monetary award for the artist, in addition to the Eiteljorg Museum purchasing artwork from each fellow to add to its collection of contemporary Native art.
Marianne Nicolson (Kwakwaka’wakw), The Source of Our Great Sorrows, 1999, unvarnished acrylic on wood, 57½ x 65½ x 3”. Museum purchase from the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art with funds provided by E. Andrew Steffen. 1999.7.3.
Teresa Marshall (Millbrook Mi’kmaq), Bering Strait Jacket #1, 1994, silkscreened fabric straightjacket with acrylic paint; fabric pants with acrylic paint; silk scarf with acrylic paint, metal, 68 x 28 x 2” (overall). Museum purchase from the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art. 2001.3.1.
Over the past several decades, the Eiteljorg Fellowship has added more than 200 works by 55 contemporary Indigenous artists to the museum’s collections. “In the nearly 24 years since the Eiteljorg first developed the fellowship program, the field of contemporary Native art has grown and evolved with increased interest from art institutions in the cutting-edge work of contemporary Native artists,” notes Eiteljorg Museum staff.
The 2023 fellows, who will each receive $50,000, are Ruth Cuthand, Natalie Ball, Sean Chandler, Raven Halfmoon and Mercedes Dorame.
As the Eiteljorg Museum prepares for the Fellowship exhibition UNSETTLE/Converge this fall, the museum has also opened a new exhibition titled Native Art History is Made Here. This comprehensive exhibition turns its attention toward the past—toward history. It shines a bright light on the immensely creative artists from the first two rounds of the biennial fellowship, in 1999 and 2001. “Some of these works have not been on exhibit for a number of years, so it is an excellent opportunity for Eiteljorg guests to experience the works for the first time or get reacquainted with them,” says museum staff.
Joe Feddersen (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), Grandmother’s Basket and Black Haired Basket, 1996, woven waxed linen with white horsehair, cloth lining, 3 x 22 x 3”. Museum purchase from the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art. 2001.2.1
The yearlong exhibition, which opened in April and continues through March 31, 2024, was curated by Dorene Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota), curator of Native American art at the Eiteljorg Museum. It aims to highlight the works of artists who are recognized today as some of the most influential and best-known contemporary Native artists, including works by 1999 fellows like George Morrison, Marianne Nicholson, Rick Rivet, Lorenzo Clayton, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Truman Lowe. Fellows from 2001 include Allan Houser, Rick Bartow, Joe Feddersen, Teresa Marshall and Shelley Niro.
Rick Rivet (Sahtu/Métis), Beothuck Mound No. 11, 1997, acrylic with collaged pieces of canvas and string on canvas, 543⁄8 x 55”. Museum purchase from the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art with funds provided by E. Andrew Steffen. 1999.8.2. Photos courtesy the Eiteljorg Museum.
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
“For those not there to witness the magic of these first two fellowship cycles in 1999 and 2001, we hope some of the same excitement, joy and cause for celebration has been conjured,” Eiteljorg Museum staff notes. “The Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship is a radical undertaking; it prioritizes Native voices and lived experiences over Western narratives still imposed on Native lives. Native art history is ever-evolving, and it continues to be written here.”
Visitors will be able to explore a vast range of artworks—from sculpture to printmaking to textiles—as creative and distinct as the artists who made them.
Through March 31, 2024
Native Art History Is Made Here
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
500 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 636-9378, www.eiteljorg.org
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