Back to Blue Quills Homepage

iyiniw acâhkowaskowikowew

qou= zBfz!&fq!f1!=

INDIGENOUS ARTISTS PROGRAM

~ Blue Quills ~

Our people have always been artists, all of us are artists,
we are painters, carvers, storytellers, sculptors, beaders,
dancers, musicians, poets, performers, ... for time immemorial

Release your inner artist!  Help us create our world, vision our future, tell our stories, build our economies.
Let’s make space in this contemporary world for our ancestral knowledge and aesthetic.

<> Program Description <> Admission <>

<> Art Camp 2009 <>

<> Curriculum Framework <>

<> Diploma / Degree Core Competencies <>

<> Diploma - Traditional Art Forms <>

<> Degree - Technologies and New Mediums <>

<> The Process <>

<> Links to Student Work on the Internet <>

The Indigenous Artists Program at Blue Quills is an invitation to pursue your learning and talent through the contexts of Indigenous knowledge and practice.  It is about the artists, about human beings deeply engaging in all dimensions, spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, about developing a sense of wholeness of being and purpose, and with that awareness, exploring opportunities to create works that will tell the story of our people. We are of the land, we have responsibilities gifted to us by the Creator, we learn from our ancestors and through ceremony.  Our languages carry our knowledges, and our artists tell our stories.  Our world is about our relations, our ancestry.  This program invites Indigenous Artists to carry the voice and vision of their ancestors of this land.

The primary responsibility of the artist is to see, to learn how to see through the lens of our culture, to think and to share.  Through ceremony we learn who we are, what our responsibilities are as individuals and as a people. Through ceremony we learn our languages and knowledges which define our world, we learn how to communicate with all our relations, we learn how to interpret our experience, we learn how to see the world, then to share what we see, to help others see.

Art is about reflecting meaning.  In its highest form of expression, it is magic.
(Cajete, 1994)

 Admission Requirements:

1) Vision, Passion, Determination

2) Application & Fees

3) Language Assessment

4) Artists Statement (intent/philosophy of art)

5) Portfolio of Art Work

6) 2 Reference Letters (character/ professional)

7) Interview with Coordinator

Check this page for details on

The Art Camp – September 14 – 18, 2009

 z!u*V$   vmZ!x{ch$    Zth$
waniskâk    kanawâpahtamok    âcimok
  (rise up)        (look around you)          (tell your story)

 ...a unique ART event.  Emerging artists will have an opportunity to spend a week with professional artists and Elders, learning technique, exploring issues that inform art, and creating

Return to Top of Page

The Curriculum Framework:

The curriculum framework is grounded in Natural Law, Spiritual Practice, Ceremony, Values & Ethics, and a belief that learning is life-long, wholistic, interdependent, process oriented, and experiential. The program will be modeled on natural Indigenous methods of transferring knowledge through ceremony, dialogue, and creative practice, using self-directed and interdependent learning methods, including reflection, discovery, and mentoring. Core faculty will act as facilitators for participants on their own self-defined individual and collective journeys, as they are invited to explore and find strength in the knowledge of:

Diploma/ Degree — Core Competencies:

• Indigenous Languages & Syllabics

• Indigenous Identity & Knowledge

• Treaties & Governance

• The Artist & The Art

• Written & Spoken English (Creative/ Business applications)

• Business Concepts (Management/Marketing/Proposal Writing)

• Marketing – Independent and Gallery approaches

• Indigenous & Western Art Histories

• Computers – Business & Art applications

Diploma — Traditional Art Forms:

Degree — Technologies and New Mediums:

Senior Students will continue to work in Traditional Art Forms, exploring:

Return to Top of Page

The Process:

Each week will begin and end with formal ceremony, creating a space for reflective practice, dialogue, and individual and collective creative activity. Students will be responsible for participating a minimum of 25 hours per week on campus during regular hours (9am-4pm) including opening and closing ceremonies, and are invited to invest additional campus hours as arranged with the Program Coordinator. Elders and established artists will regularly be invited to participate in the program, to share their knowledge and experience. Students will be required to create and present a continuous portfolio demonstrating growth in their work, their learning, and their personal journey based on the curriculum framework and their learning goals.

Release your inner artist! Help us create our world, vision our future, tell our stories, build our economies. Let’s make space in this contemporary world for our ancestral knowledge and aesthetic.

Return to Top of Page

Links to Student Works Published on the Internet

Randy Moosepayo <> DeviantArt Website <> ComicArtFans Website

Feathers by Silverhawk Creations