"Auto Immune Response #5" is an image from photographer William Wilson (Dine). The Tucson, Ariz. resident is one of the Eiteljorg's 2007 Fellows. (Photos provided by the Eiteljorg for The Star)

The digital print "Vanishing Race 101" is from artist Larry Tee Harbor Jackson McNeil (Tlingit/Nisgaa). The Boise, Idaho, resident is a 2007 Eiteljorg Fellow. (Photos provided by the Eiteljorg for The Star)

Digital print "On to the Red Road 5" is from photographer and video installation artist Dana Claxton (Lakota). Through her art, Claxton, a 2007 Eiteljorg Fellow from Vancouver, British Columbia, has critiqued many aspects of government, religion and consumer culture as they affect and disaffect contemporary Aboriginal people in Canada and the United States. (Photos provided by the Eiteljorg for The Star)

"Idiot Strings," a 15-foot-by-15-foot sculpture made from walrus intestines, is from mixed media painter and sculptor Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Inupiaq/Athabascan). A 2007 Eiteljorg fellow, Kelliher-Combs' work is part of the Eiteljorg Museum Fellowship for Native American Fine Art exhibition. (Photos provided by the Eiteljorg for The Star)

"Manifest Destiny" is from mixed media artist Gerald Clarke (Cahuilla). The piece is made from metal, wood, plastic, dollar bills, a cowboy hat and printed fabric. Clarke, who lives in Anza, Calif., is one of the Eiteljorg's 2007 Fellows. (Photos provided by the Eiteljorg for The Star)

Eiteljorg honors artists who go beyond 'blankets, baskets and beads' stereotype

One of the arts community's most distinctive initiatives marks its 10th anniversary next weekend when celebrated American Indian artists gather in Indianapolis -- yet it remains one of the city's best-kept secrets.

The biennial Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art recognizes the achievements of artists from the U.S. and Canada through grants, an exhibition and accompanying catalog, and a roster of opening-weekend events. It's the only program of its kind, says Jennifer Complo-McNutt, curator of contemporary art at the Eiteljorg Museum, the fellowship's sponsor.

But not everyone realizes its significance, even in the program's host city.

"It's really important, (but) it's like people don't associate," Complo-McNutt says. "They have such stereotypes about Native people and traditional culture and Native American art. They can't get beyond that fact to understand or accept or be open to the different ways that Native American artists express themselves in music, as well as art, as well as theater, etc., etc."

The theme of this year's exhibit, "Diversity and Dialogue," sets out to change such mindsets. Opening Saturday, the exhibit includes more than 45 works created by the 2007 Fellows: Dana Claxton (Lakota), Gerald Clarke (Cahuilla), Larry McNeil (Tlingit/Nisga'a) Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Inupiaq/Athabascan), William Wilson (Dine) and Distinguished Artist James A. Luna (Luiseno).

Visitors expecting what they consider to be "traditional" American Indian images will be surprised by the variety and scope of the works, Complo-McNutt says.

"Everybody thinks 'Native American art' -- that's going to be a blanket, that's going to be a basket, we're talking feathers, we're talking beads.' The materials that these artists are using are all contemporary materials. They might incorporate something that's traditional, or something you normally associate with Native American artists, but it's in a very contemporary way."

The exhibition includes painting, printmaking and photography, as well as art forms such as a four-channel video installation. Vancouver artist Claxton, creator of the latter work, says that by acknowledging this type of art, the fellowship program offers an "astute acknowledgment of contemporary indigenous art of North Amer8ica. ..... Historically, we've sort of been relegated to anthropology and ethnology, where this brings it into a contemporary art discourse. I think that's very important in terms of moving away from stereotypes."

The works, says 2007 Fellow and Idaho resident McNeil, not only exhibit high levels of visual and cultural impact, but also successfully navigate complex ideas about mainstream culture.

"One very critical yet fun thing that artists do is offer an interpretation of our times, and in a manner that sometimes is a bit ambiguous, so that it gets the viewer involved," McNeil says. "Sometimes the art serves as an aid to navigating into the future, especially when we have profound questions about ourselves like 'How do we proceed after the tragedy of 9/11?' There is a piece of art that asks that question in the exhibition.

"The fellowship is kind of a barometer that artists are coming forth with art that doesn't shirk difficult questions about our identity, which is a critical role that art plays in our society, and yet starts to transcend the ordinary with visual aesthetics, too."

Says Complo-McNutt: "Native American art is about politics, it's about community, it's about language, memory, history, humor. It has all these very accessible meanings behind it -- (and) there are 10,000 years of history behind it. So there's a lot of depth to the works."

In addition to giving artists a chance to display their works through the exhibition, each honoree receives a $20,000 8unrestricted grant. The Eiteljorg also has purchased more than $100,000 of artwork from the fellows, bringing each recipient's prize total to at least $30,000, Complo-McNutt adds -- funds that "really help to 8propel their careers and further their vision."

McNeil, who says the money buys him time to make new art, agrees.

"It is seed money for the creation of new work, which is really quite magical when you stop and consider its ramifications," he says. "It means that our culture thinks that what artists do is important enough to buy time for them to make art and continue what was presented at the fellowship exhibition.

"In this sense, it emulates a research fellowship, where scholars and specialists from various disciplines earn funds to do research that wouldn't otherwise be possible."

On a larger scale, McNeil says, the program and its recipients add "a critical layer of knowledge about our collective identity that would be difficult to 8attain any other way."

Unique to the 2007 fellowship -- the intiative's fifth cycle -- is a special homecoming celebration, which brings together former fellows in Indianapolis. The homecoming allows participants to meet current honorees and play a key role in a two-hour public discussion evaluating the program's progress to date.

"The thing that I think is so wonderful is the voice of the artists and the Native community is in this project," Complo-McNutt says. "Of course, it fulfills the museum's mission, but what's so great is, the better we serve the artists, the more we're able to fulfill our mission."

In each two-year cycle -- the fellowships began in 1999 -- an independent jury considers submitted works in a blind-adjudication process. While some pieces reflect American Indian culture, that is not a requirement.

"(The jurors) are looking at quality," Complo-McNutt says. "They're looking for a unique vision. They're looking for something that's technically perfect and aesthetically challenging or inviting or beautiful. Something that has a unique visual signature by a particular artist. And something that is put together well."

As news of the program has spread, competition for fellowships has intensified. About 100 artists applied for the 2007 initiative.

Those honored represent the talent and diversity of American Indian artists in the U.S. and Canada -- a range that Complo-McNutt looks forward to sharing with exhibit attendees.

"A lot of times, people say, 'Well, how is this Western art? How is this Indian art?' And when you actually talk to them and share a lot of the personal anecdotes that the artists have shared with you, it really gives them a way in. ..... You can really bend some people's minds with this show."

-- Stories by Julie Cope Saetre / Star correspondent