First day of blog: organizing to get to Venice

There are six of us.  The Venice Six is a group of students from IAIA or if you're not from Santa Fe, NM and don't know much about the southwest, we're from the Institute of American Indian Arts.  This school has had at least four lifetimes.  It began as the Art Studio, taught by Dorothy Dunn in 1932. This was part of the Santa Fe Indian School a mandatory regional boarding school for American Indian children. Dorothy's vision and campaign helped soften the direction of the boarding school by developing and marketing  "Indian art" She taught Native children about a style of mark making that later on would become authenticated as "real" Indian art.... and for a long long time (1960s) were the time that would begin to break out) Dorothy Dunn's vision of what was American Indian art ruled.

Today is May 19, 2011.  Real Indian Art is in the making, five out of the six of us going from the IAIA are from federally recognized tribes.  We six were accepted into a prestigious month long art program that parallels the 2011 Venice Biennale. We will be inhaling and making art in Venice and Murano, Italy and we will show through the Marist College auxillary show to the Venice Biennale the week of July 4th... (hmm  is there  a shape of dramatic irony forming? -- is a second American Indian opera in the wings ready to be born?)  

Until we get there the blogs will be short and sweet--talking about Venice, art, the process of getting ready, working to make sure all of us go( finding the money we'll need ). If you want to see more about who we are and what this means to us, go to The Venice Six at the Biennale .

Our goal for this blog is to get those who've stood with us, (supported us  financially and spiritually), to see what we see, so there will be lots of photos of the art world around us, the work we are making, and short word bytes and indigenous and artistic musings and insights.   Stay with us and thank you.