Ruth Cuthand is one of five Indigenous artists selected for this year's Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, a prestigious American honour.
All five artists receive a $50,000 grant and will participate in an exhibition that opens Nov. 11 at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis.
The museum also expects to spend more than $100,000 to purchase work by the artists for its permanent collection.
Cuthand, a Plain Cree artist based in Saskatoon, is known for beading viruses that reflect both the current pandemic, as well earlier infections that swept through Indigenous communities with the arrival of Europeans.
The other artists are Natalie Ball (Klamath Tribes) whose assemblages investigate identity; Sean Chandler (Aaniiih) whose abstract drawings convey experiences of growing up in Montana; Mercedes Dorame (Gabrielino Tongva) who photographs installations on her ancestral home, present-day Los Angeles; and Raven Halfmoon (Caddo Nation / Choctaw / Delaware) whose stoneware sculptures focus on Caddo culture and social issues.
The fellowship, offered every other year since 1999, aims to bring more attention to Indigenous artists.
For more information, go here.
Source: Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
