Pace Live

Towards Right Relations

A Roundtable Dialogue

Wednesday, Nov 2
6:30 PM
540 West 25th Street
New York

Event Details:

Towards Right Relations: A Roundtable Dialogue
Wednesday, Nov 2
6:30 PM
Doors Open: 6 PM
540 West 25th Street
New York

How to Attend:

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Connect:

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Pace Live is pleased to present Towards Right Relations: A Roundtable Dialogue, which will mark Indigenous Peoples' Month in November.

This event follows a series of working sessions—organized by both independent consultant, Dioganhdih Hall (Mohawk of Akwesasne), and the gallery over the past several months—centering on the uses and limitations of public land acknowledgments. Working with a cohort of Indigenous artists and organizers, Pace has developed a formal land acknowledgment, subject to future elaboration, that will function as a living document for the gallery’s Chelsea spaces to guide and strengthen its work in community outreach and broad coalition building. Through this process, the gallery has identified further action steps to deepen its relationships with Lenape communities and Indigenous communities who have historically gathered, and continue to gather, in Lenapehoking.

Please join us on November 2 at 540 West 25th Street for an evening of dialogue focused on the ways cultural institutions can move towards right relations with Indigenous communities and the role that art can play in that repair. Participants in the discussion will include artists Nadema Agard (Cherokee/Lakota/Powhatan), Jeremy Dennis (Shinnecock), Mercedes Terrance (Mohawk of Akwesasne), and River Whittle (Caddo/Lenape). This upcoming event will also feature a reading of the gallery’s land acknowledgment.

Nadema Agard

Nadema Agard Winyan Luta (Woman Holy Red) is a Cherokee/Lakota/Powhatan artist, illustrator, curator, educator, lecturer, storyteller, writer, poet, published author, museum professional and consultant in Repatriation and Multicultural/ Native American arts and cultures. She earned a B.S. Degree from N.Y.U. and M.A. in Art and Education from Teacher's College, C.U. Her work spans more than four decades and includes multiple solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, and guest curatorship’s nationally and internationally.

Describing her work, Nadema states:
“My artwork has an individualistic style that draws upon cosmic subject matter. It has a global agenda from an Indigenous perspective and reflects the interconnection of myself as woman, mother, Indigenous world citizen, Native North American, spiritual being and warrior. My work has been influenced by the ceremonies of the Onondaga Longhouse, the Hopi Kiva on Second Mesa, the Full Moon and Sweat Lodge ceremonies of the Ojibwe, the Sundance of the Lakota, a pilgrimage to Medicine Wheel, Wyoming, Nanih Waiya Mound of the Choctaw, the Mayan Pyramid in Chichen Itza and Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, home of goddess Pele.”

Jeremy Dennis

Jeremy Dennis (b. 1990) is a contemporary fine art photographer and a tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, NY. In his work, he explores indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation.

Dennis was one of 10 recipients of a 2016 Dreamstarter Grant from the national non-profit organization Running Strong for American Indian Youth. He was awarded $10,000 to pursue his project, On This Site, which uses photography and an interactive online map to showcase culturally significant Native American sites on Long Island, a topic of special meaning for Dennis, who was raised on the Shinnecock Nation Reservation. He also created a book and exhibition from this project. Most recently, Dennis received the Creative Bursar Award from Getty Images in 2018 to continue his series Stories.

In 2013, Dennis began working on the series, Stories—Indigenous Oral Stories, Dreams and Myths. Inspired by North American indigenous stories, the artist staged supernatural images that transform these myths and legends to depictions of an actual experience in a photograph.

Residencies: Yaddo (2019), Byrdcliffe Artist Colony (2017), North Mountain Residency, Shanghai, WV (2018), MDOC Storytellers’ Institute, Saratoga Springs, NY (2018). Eyes on Main Street Residency & Festival, Wilson, NC (2018), Watermill Center, Watermill, NY (2017) and the Vermont Studio Center hosted by the Harpo Foundation (2016).

He has been part of several group and solo exhibitions, including Stories—Dreams, Myths, and Experiences, for The Parrish Art Museum’s Road Show (2018), Stories, From Where We Came, The Department of Art Gallery, Stony Brook University (2018); Trees Also Speak, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery, SUNY College at Old Westbury, NY (2018); Nothing Happened Here, Flecker Gallery at Suffolk County Community College, Selden, NY (2018); On This Site: Indigenous People of Suffolk County, Suffolk County Historical Society, Riverhead, NY (2017); Pauppukkeewis, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA (2016); and Dreams, Tabler Gallery, Stony Brook, NY (2012).

Dennis holds an MFA from Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, and a BA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University, NY.

He currently lives and works in Southampton, New York on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.

Mercedes Terrance

Mercedes Terrance, also known as Tsatsi'tsiahawi, her Kanien'kehaka name meaning “she carries/brings the flowers," is a singer and tattoo artist from Akwesasne, NY. Mercedes has been singing and performing for over seven years and tattooing using both hand poke and machine work for over four years.

River Whittle

River Whittle is a two-spirit Caddo, Lenape, and white multimedia artist, youth mentor, and community organizer. River’s work supports Indigenous life, care, and revitalization. River is currently focusing on shellwork, which is traditional to both Caddo and Lenape people, but they are also a photographer, metal worker, printmaker, digital artist, and potter. You can reach River and see their work through their Instagram (opens in a new window) @natanehriver.