The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) has received a $50,000 USDA grant for student research in agriculture and nutrition.    

The funding will also host a visiting scholar from New Mexico State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Science Center in Alcalde, N.M., to help students study agriculture. Students will learn about soil preparation, irrigation methods in dry climates, and nutritional benefits of organically produced foods. They will also measure family participation in a farming or gardening and healthy eating program.

Lettuce seedlings in IAIA's greenhouse

In 1994, Congress approved IAIA land grant status, a provision given to tribally-controlled colleges and universities to better help serve their consumers through higher education programs involving teaching, community outreach and research. The 1994 Land Grant Institutions primarily serve Native American populations typically located in remote, underserved communities that lack access to higher education. Relevant culturally sensitive curriculum is included so that Native American students and communities can incorporate their cultural and historical identity. The USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service provides the funds to support the Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program.

In the past two years, IAIA’s Center for Lifelong Education (CLE) has developed a campus demonstration garden, growing peaches, lettuce, onions and other fruits and vegetables to increase awareness of traditional foods production, as well as provide work-study and internships to students interested in learning about or enhancing their knowledge of regional tribal farming and alternative methodologies in agriculture. A greenhouse has been built on campus with a USDA Extension grant to serve as an alternative and experiential classroom.  

Although faculty have integrated agricultural curriculum and outreach opportunities in the Indigenous Liberal Studies and Museum Studies departments, student agriculture and scientific research has been lacking. Some students have stated that they want to grow their own foods in IAIA’s garden and monitor their families’ financial and health benefits.

R. Edmund Gomez, NMSU visiting scholar who has worked with tribal communities, will mentor IAIA students in a study of small-scale traditional food crop production and the nutritional benefits and outcomes. The scholar in turn will learn about the tribal college system, including outreach and community-based programs, as well as share his/her knowledge of research in regional small family farming.

The research team will also provide mentoring to Native high school students in agriscience and culinary arts at the Santa Fe Indian School as part of IAIA’s dual-credit and integrated curriculum program in the two-year project starting in September.

Campus demonstration garden

Results of the student research will be presented at the annual CLE Health and Wellness conference, and students will be encouraged to co-write and publish their findings in scholarly journals, such as the Tribal College Journal, and agricultural and health-related publications. The students and families will also generate a cookbook, which will be available for sale to the campus, tribal and Santa Fe communities.

IAIA is one of several tribal colleges across the nation engaging in programs to revitalize traditional food cultivation, harvesting and cooking. According to participants at a previous FALCON (what is FALCON) conference, more work needs to be done in the area of food security and affordability.

“For 50 years, the Institute of American Indian Arts has served as a premier institution whose efforts are critical to protecting the heritage and culture of Native American communities, not only across New Mexico, but across the country, while exploring the latest influences that are reflected in the contemporary work of incredible artists,” said U.S. House Rep. Ben Ray Luján D- N.M., who announced the grant Friday. “IAIA is instrumental in nurturing the next generation of artists in Indian Country, as well as promoting and protecting the work of its students. Federal grants like this one are critical to bolster their efforts and ensure that IAIA has the resources it needs to continue to provide its students with the opportunity to inspire the community with their art work.”

For more information about IAIA’s visiting scholar and student agriculture and nutrition research program, contact Luke Reed at 505-424-5950 or lreed@iaia.edu. For more information about IAIA’s Center for Lifelong Learning, go to www.iaia.edu/cle/.   

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IAIA President Dr. Robert Martin will appear on KCHF TV’s “Issues and Answers,” a public affairs show airing on Channel 11 in New Mexico. Dr. Martin discusses the campus and its 50-year history.

Dr. Robert Martin with Host Diane Kinderwater

“Issues and Answers” with Dr. Martin will air at 6:30p.m. June 13. Other air times inlcude:

• 10 a.m. June 22
• 7:30 p.m. June 23
• 2 p.m. June 24
• 10 p.m. June 30

January 15, 2011 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Museum Events

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Upstairs Classroom

In this installment of IN SESSION, Native artist and author-scholar, Lara Evans exchanges ideas with Navajo artist John Feodorov whose work is featured in MoCNA exhibition, VISION PROJECT Gallery Presents Emergence: John Feodorov.

Born in Los Angeles of mixed Native and European American heritage, John Feodorov spent summers at his grandparent’s homestead in the “White Horse” region of New Mexico. This time spent between the Na…vajo reservation and the California suburbs of Whittier continues to have an important influence on his work. Feodorov often utilizes pop culture detritus, as well as sound and video, to create what he considers contemporary “sacred” spaces in order to question ideas of spirituality, identity and place. In addition, his paintings and drawings are experiments in creating hybrid mythical iconographies. Feodorov was featured in the first season of the PBS television series, “Art21: Art for the 21st Century” as well as in the companion book published by Harry N. Abrams. He has served as an Arts Commissioner for the City of Seattle and currently teaches as an Assistant Professor of Art at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University in Bellingham Washington. In addition, he is also a musician and songwriter. www.johnfeodorov.com

Lara Evans (Cherokee) is a member of Evergreen State College’s faculty and teaches art history and studio art. Although she has a strong general art history background, her special area of study is contemporary Native American art. Lara Evans received a Ph.D. in Art History from University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She earned a Master’s of Interdisciplinary Studies at Oregon State University in Art History, Studio Art, and the Intersection of Race, Class, and Gender. Lara is also an artist who is primarily a painter, but also works in other media on occasion.

IN SESSION: Conversations with Contemporary Native Artists and Scholars is an extension of the MoCNA/IAIA’s Vision Project bringing together participating artists, authors, curators, art historians, anthropologists, and cultural workers to discuss their contribution to the project and the field of contemporary Native Arts. In Session conversations support MoCNA’s goal of establishing an indigenous arts discourse that reflects the vibrancy and potency of field at its most current level of activity.

This IN SESSION is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and a reception with the presenters will follow the conversation.

This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Call 505.428.5907 or email hlocklear@iaia.edu for more information.

Contact:
Ryan Flahive, 505.424.5743 (ph)
rflahive@iaia.edu

The archives of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is proud to announce the acquisition of the Lloyd H. New Papers. New’s widow, Aysen New of Santa Fe, New Mexico, generously donated the collection to IAIA on November 12, 2010. Lloyd H. New, known professionally as Lloyd “Kiva” New, was hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1961 as the first art director of IAIA and held the position of president of the Institute from 1968 until his retirement in 1978. The Lloyd H. New Papers will reshape the written history of IAIA and of Indian education in the post-termination period of U.S. Indian affairs.

The collection documents in detail New’s activities as an accomplished textile artist in Scottsdale during the 1950s, his lifelong dedication to Indian education and his work at IAIA in various capacities until his death in 2002. New’s various posts as a member of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and his involvement in the development of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and Turtle Museum (in Niagara Falls) are also at the forefront of the collection.

A highlight of the New Papers is his body of literary manuscripts. New’s philosophical writings on multicultural education, IAIA, American Indian art and museum development abound within the collection. As the philosophical founder of IAIA, New’s writings on the purpose, goals and future of IAIA are crucial to understanding the unique and experimental nature of the Institute’s curriculum.

Archival processing of the 50 cubic feet of correspondence, reports, publications, manuscripts, speeches, photographs and audio/visual materials may take many months to complete. However, interested researchers may contact the archives to view the preliminary inventory of the New Papers.

For more information on this important collection, please contact Ryan S. Flahive, Archivist at 505.424.2392 or rflahive@iaia.edu.

About IAIA
IAIA’s mission is to empower creativity and leadership in Native arts and cultures through higher education, lifelong learning and outreach.

Offering degrees in studio arts, creative writing, new media arts, Indigenous liberal studies, and museum studies, IAIA is the only college in New Mexico with National Association of Schools of Art and Design accreditation. IAIA is also accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges.

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