Archives for August 2018

Summer Arts 2018: Black Hills Intensive

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The highlight of our Summer Arts programming was a 6 day sleep-away intensive in the Black Hills. Students from all over the reservation came together as a unified group of artists to create work in their ancestral lands. The coursework included Visual Art, Digital Art, Dance, Yoga, Music, Music Production, Film, Writing, Photography, and Traditional Arts, including: beadwork, plant medicines, traditional hide-tanning, and a traditional flute-making and dance workshop taught by world renowned Lakota artist Kevin Locke. In addition to the artists that came to teach, we had elders, mentors and community leaders to enrich all aspects of the program.

More Highlights to come …

 

Our beautiful location!

Students gather for morning circle

Drummers prepare for morning song

Morning yoga

Light and Color in the art room

Film class

Writing class

Plant medicines

Flute workshop

Kevin Locke teaches traditional flute

WATERSLIDE!!

S’MORES!!

Evening campfire

Summer Arts 2018: Pine Ridge

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We brought the art to the streets in Pine Ridge! We worked with young people from the Kidz Club at YO Park in downtown Pine Ridge. Kids did work in visual art, music, dance and acro-yoga, film, and photography!

Art Class with Z!

Art Walk in Pine Ridge

Art Class

Photography lesson with Simon

James’s Awesome Photo Assignment!

Music Lesson with Paul

Acro-Yoga!

Acro-Yoga!

Acro-Yoga

Filmmaking!

Film Class in Pine Ridge!

Perspective

Summer Arts 2018: Crazy Horse

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The first stop on our Summer Arts Immersion programs was Crazy Horse, a K-12 school in Wanblee. Students in Kindergarten through High School did work in visual art, film, music  and music production, photography, and dance. We finished up recording a song students wrote last spring and began shooting footage for a music video students are creating to the song. We will be back in September to finish up production on the song and music video. Here is a draft of the song so far:

Film Class with Laffrey and Ellen

Piano Lesson with Paul

Learning the Camera

Practicing Camera Skills

Art Class

A Good Day’s Work!

Getting ready to shoot the music video!

Practicing for the music video

Students participating in the music video

A young actress performs her part in the music video

SACRED HOOP 2018

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The 36th Annual 500 Mile Sacred Hoop Run!

The Mitakuye Foundation has been honored to support The 500 Mile Sacred Hoop Run for the last 7 years!

The kids run in prayer for 5 days in a 500 mile relay to sacred sites around the Black Hills. It is a powerful and important event that brings children, families, and communities together from across the reservation.

Thank You to everyone who has supported the runners! This year we were able to provide several thousand dollars of support, including the annual commemorative t-shirts. A special shout-out to Josh Fox who featured the runners in his film, Awake, and to Jeri Baker and ONE SPIRIT who helped provide food, gas, and supplies!  We have been documenting the Run since 2012 and will be featuring it in our upcoming film, The Heart of Everything That Is. 

Prayer Circle at Devil’s Tower

Prayers

Tug of war at Devils Tower.

Running for Raelee

The final approach at Bear Butte

WOPILA!

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All of us here at The Mitakuye Foundation would like to say WOPILA TANKA (THANK YOU VERY MUCH!) to the many donors and sponsors who have supported and contributed to our 2018 Summer Arts Programs so far!

It is a beautiful thing to see how many people want to create life-affirming opportunities for the young people of Pine Ridge! And it is all the more meaningful that so many people – who may not have much themselves – feel so moved to show care and concern for the youth. And we want to publicly thank you all here:

Lo Sprague and Gwynne Guibord.
Virginia Partridge.

Victoria Mudd, Dorothy Polash.

Maureen Milligan, Josh Fox, Jean Rousseau.

Timothy Gann, Sachi Amatya, Mary Gleason, Marti Forker-Vernon.

Swami Sarvadevananda, Elizabeth Casebolt, Mike Hendrickson, Amelie Ratliff, Melissa Rathbone, Anne Rendeiro, Jillian Harris.

Vanne Mocilac, Roy Vongtama, Prisca Winslow, Susan Henley, Melissa Ewing, Christina Borello, Vida Vierra, Madison Madden, Leah Alperin,  Joel Masser, Glenn F Gang, Julio Toruno, Thomas Ginoza, Jerome Valenta, Justin Laplante, Georgina Cullman, Leith Moshimer, Emily Spurlin, Emilie McConville, Jennifer Matisiak, Aran Levine, Rachel Schiff, Toby Rae, Jennifer Klisak, Daniel Engbretson.

Susana Funsten, Gloria Healy, Alina Smith, Katherine B Colacchio, Brynnae Dempster, Walt Stewart, April Faciane, Robbin Payne-Torre, Ira Shor, Jannett Behlau, Earl Grove, Mary Yates, Robert Deshotels, Lindsay Mack LLC, Sarah Doran, Christianna Wincek, Julia Koerber, Joshua Basch, Tamar Anitai, Paul Osgerby, Laureen Ellison, Kelsey Moore, Laura von Holt Creative Enterprises, Maya Rohr, Samantha Huggins, Syd Hansen, Tanner Hartsock, Tess Wier, Alicia Waters Yoga, Jana Saout.

Hugh Borax, Functional Feng Shui / Vicky Iskander, Dawn Moore, Sivan Orr, Carolyn A Kidder, Andrea de Lange, Patricia Murphy, Makoto Arai, Eric Spaar, Donna Soto, Tina Zimmerman, Beth Semel, Amanda Powell, Kelli Kikcio, Anna Evanson, Kenji Yamada, Angela Glasscock, Megan Scott, Diane Post, Leon Sun, Lorraine Priceman, Teresa Dennison, Kyra Norsigian, Carol Van Houten, Rosemary Bay, Danielle Rose, Chris Frogner, Megan McGuire, Robin Snellgrove, Meghan Tynan, Laura Anaya, Maia Blendermann, Jennifer Greenfield, Nancy Mathews, Anna Nisi, Moodscape, Carmen Moore, Skin Paper Cloth LLC, Jessica Hallinan, Matt Allison, Alanna Shadrake, Moriah Simmons, Sandra Dowd, Alexandra Forst, The Night Gallery, Health Capacity/Rhonda Jessum, James Hall, Helen Dickey, Jason Kleidouhakis, Louise Hayward, Emilie Cobb, Colleen Ladd, Corvid Craft,Virginia Herndon, Eloise Sherrid, Patrick Beane, John C, Natalie Reitz, Charlene Van Hoozen, Blissen /Jill Bliss, Natalie Willoughby, Alicia Gary, Mallory Nielson, Katelyn Steffen, Caitlyn Cournale, Kelly Vondracek.

Bob Stevens, Mary Hadcock, Jennifer Stevenson, Maribeth Helen, Chyanss Gish, Rachel Dyer, Tatiana Chavitage, Lilly Knopf, Savannah Mirisola-Sullivan, Raphael Augustin, Richard Waters, Vende Miriam Sells, William Hanson, Treva Silverman, Ron Matthews, Richard Holley, Marie Heaney, Betsy Reed, Justin Rodgers, Hillary Mulka, Jennifer DeLong, Krystal Gibbon, Uncaged Tarot, Ingrid Alcover, Elizabeth Perniciaro, Kasey Brooks, Zoe Zulauf, Brenda Conken, Margaret Page, Abigayel Phillips, Georgia Valentine, Elizabeth Childers, Lincoln Smith, Emily Greene, Fifth Gate LARP LLC, Lindsay Eanet, Emily Rounds, Jessica Masson, Ashley Galvan, Krystal Cleary, George Carenzo, Emily Barrett, Timothy Andrews, Aimee Hall, Tedd Ward Jr, Lynn Shoemaker, Nancy Kathryn Burns, Elizabeth Searle.

And the South Dakota Arts Council for subsidizing Kevin Locke’s workshop wth the kids.
And to the amazing artists. teachers, elders. mentors and volunteers: Paul Spaeth, Jill Frere, Laffrey Witbrod, Z Elina Krasteva, Tim Gann, Ellen Feldman, Kevin Locke, Waylon Black Crow, Rick Gray Grass, JT Shinning One Side, Joy Hill Yellow Boy, Cecelia “Lulu” LaPointe, Pauline Wilson, Stephanie Apple, Destiny Leftwich, Roman Gaines, Noah Frere.
THANK YOU to you all! Your contributions really do make a difference! It has been an incredible summer of arts programming on Pine Ridge and we could not have made it happen without you! Coming up next: posts on the 500 Mile Sacred Hoop Prayer Run, our Hoye Wayelo Arts Immersion programs in Wanblee, Pine Ridge, and the Black Hills, and news about our end of summer programs.