The Art of Possibilities at Oglala Lakota ArtSpace

Saturday, April 20, 2024

This morning, the CAIRNS director traveled from our office in Pine Ridge Reservation’s Lacreek District to the Oglala Lakota Artspace in Medicine Root District. There he shared a presentation with Teach for American Corps members that explored the intersection—within reservations—of educational strategies, the arts, and tribal sovereignty. In particular, it focused on the assumptions that art “makes the revolution irresistable” (Toni Cade Bambara) and that "conformity is the antithesis of creativity,” two quotes that the organizers used in advertising the training. The presentation included hands-on visual thinking strategies with artworks from four Lakotan Educational Art Project exhibits and a inside look at how curating the Takuwe exhibit about the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre unintentionally resulted in evidence regarding the weather the day of the massacre (it was 66 degrees and sunny) and how long the U.S. soldiers continued shooting Lakotans (until sunset around 4:30pm). 

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