Inspired Natives Award - Nominees Who Paint

Eighth Generation is seeking nominations for three Inspired Natives Awards! The deadline to nominate yourself or your favorite Indigenous artist is November 10. In the meantime, we are using our online platforms to highlight nominees. Today for the second round of our featured nominations, check out these individuals who use paint as their art form.

Each Inspired Natives Award is $2,500 in unrestricted funds and provided by 5% of all our blanket sale profits. This award represents one piece of our broad-based effort to be stewards of our Native artist community. The award is distributed in support with our friends at The Evergreen State College Longhouse and The Evergreen State College Foundation.

 

ROUND 2 - Painters

Click on the names of the artists to visit their pages!

 

 

Emily Kewageshig

Emily is an Anishinaabe artist. Using acrylic, oil and watercolor paints, she illustrates the interconnection of life forms and other culturally significant materials gathered from the land.

 

 

 

 

Bobby Von Martin

Bobby is a Fresno, California artist and an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Using painting, he inspires Native communities with his cultural influences and historical subject matter.

 

 

 

 

 

Danielle SeeWalker

Danielle is a Hunkpapa Lakota artist from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Though her primary art form is painting, she also experiments with beadwork, leatherwork, archival images and utilizes Indigenous art styles like ledger art.

 

 

 

 

 

Denae Shanidiin

Denae is Diné and Korean artist. She is an organizer, speaker and sign painter who spreads powerful messages about Indigenous rights and uplifts the voices and artwork of marginalized people.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Josley

Daniel is Lokaa Diné (Reed People) and Born for Toahani (Near The Water). His maternal grandfather is Naasht’eshi Tobaahi (Zuni Edge Water) and paternal grandfather is Ta'chiin'nii (Red Running into Water). Whether he uses a proper canvas or creates his own, Daniel calls his painting style Mosaic.

 

 

 

 

 

MaryBeth Timothy

MaryBeth is a Cherokee artist. With a love for painting wildlife, she incorporates parts of her culture in her paintings. Most of MaryBeth's work shares her affinity for Oklahoma wild birds, animals and wildflowers.

 

 

 

 

 

Aly McKnight

Aly is a Shoshone-Bannock artist dedicated to Indigenous representation and youth and womxn empowerment. Her watercolor techniques portray women living their modern lives in harmony with their ancestors, combating the notion that Indigenous art and people are only a part of the past.

 

 

 

 

 

Louis Still Smoking

Louis is a Blackfeet artist whose work is specific to his culture and his personal world views. Louis says the use of color and his Tribe's cultural imagery are critical in building a good painting.

 

 

 

 

 

Monica BringsYellow

Monica or "Moe" is an Indigenous artist based out of Missoula, Montana and the Flathead Indian Reservation. Her work mainly uses acrylic paints but she also dabbles in alcohol inks. This piece below has actual constellations.

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa Melero-Moose

Melissa is Northern Paiute enrolled with the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. She layers organic objects, sand and acrylic washes and mediums to create artwork inspired by the landscape and culture of the Numu (Northern Paiute) in Nevada, California and Oregon.

 

 

 

 

 

Carmen Selam

Carmen is a Yakama-Comanche artist. In addition to painting, she works in printmaking, clay and is a traditional tribal artist in the fields of weaving and beadwork. Carmen's work explores the relationships between living on and off of the reservation and how these relations influence her way of life.

 

 

 

 

 

Micah Wesley

Micah is a Creek/Kiowa artist from Oklahoma. As a Native American modern painter, his art has roots in tradition while embodying the bravery and self-awareness of the modern Native.

 

 

 

 

 

Lee Sekaquaptewa

Lee is a multi-Tribal artist of Yakama, Navajo and Hopi descent. He illustrates his ideas, opinions, feelings and emotions with digital paintings, sketches and doodles. For painting, he works with acrylics and watercolors.