Member Education Sessions: Funding Challenges in Native Arts and Culture

Heidi K. Brandow (Diné, Kanaka Maoli) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans
painting, photography, video, installation, and socially engaged projects. Rooted in her
heritage, her practice centers on Indigenous perspectives and fosters cross-cultural
dialogue grounded in respect, reciprocity, and creative sustainability. Her work has been
featured in exhibitions, residencies, and cultural initiatives across the United States and
internationally, often in collaboration with Indigenous artists and communities.

She co-founded the Harvard Indigenous Design Collective, advocating for design by
and for Indigenous communities as an essential part of the field’s history, theory, and
practice. She is a faculty member in the Master of Fine Arts - Studio Arts Program at the
Institute of American Indian Arts. Brandow is a graduate of Harvard University’s
Graduate School of Design and the Institute of American Indian Arts and has also
studied design at Istanbul Technical University.

Prior to joining the Luce Foundation in 2015, Sean served as President of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. During his tenure, the University developed and introduced an innovative interdisciplinary curriculum, launched a number of new degrees, and established a program for creative entrepreneurs.

 

Before moving to Philadelphia, Sean was a senior administrator at Harvard University, initially overseeing inter-faculty initiatives in neuroscience, health policy and environmental studies on behalf of the Provost, and then managing Harvard’s arts and culture activities as Associate Provost. Sean received the A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard College, and an M.A. in American Culture from the University of Michigan.

Lara M. Evans, PhD., is a scholar, curator, artist, and enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. Dr. Evans has been an art history faculty member since 2005, first at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, then at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM, since 2012. She guided the IAIA Artist-in-Residence Program from its inception in 2015 into its eventual growth into the IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts, which provides residencies, fellowships, research support, and access to the IAIA Archives and Museum of Contemporary Native Arts collection.  

Dr. Evans's recent curatorial projects include Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Shared Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023, the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art exhibition The Moving Land: 60+ Year of Art by Linda Lomahaftewa (2021), and co-curation of the traveling exhibition Action/Abstraction Redefined (2017-2024). 

Publications include “Indigeneity and the Posthumous Condition,” co-authored with Mique’l Dangeli in Posthumous Art, Law, and the Art Market: The Afterlife of Art, edited by Sharon Hecker and Peter J. Karol (2022); “Transforming Art History in the Classroom,” from Making History: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, edited by Nancy Mithlo (2020); “Setting the Photographs Aside: Native North American Photography Since 1990,” from Native Art Now, edited by Veronica Passalacqua and Kate Morris (2017). 

She earned her Ph.D. in art history at the University of New Mexico in 2005, specializing in contemporary Native American art.

Oakley Jandreau is a member of the Kul Wicasa Oyate (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe). She previously led the development and implementation of a Lakota language program, working closely with community members to support language revitalization and cultural education. Oakley is passionate about strengthening relationships that uplift Indigenous communities and advance Native-led work.

She holds degrees in American Indian and Indigenous Studies and Public Relations from South Dakota State University, as well as an Oceti Sakowin Language Certificate.

Shandiin was born and raised on Diné Bikeyah, filtering through many different towns on the Navajo Nation during her childhood. She currently lives on traditional Ohlone and Esselen lands, now recognized as the Monterey Bay in California.

Her community has guided her professional work, where she has focused on supporting Indigenous-led nonprofits in communication and development roles, working with grassroots organizations like Yee Há’olníi Dóo or larger legacy organizations like the Association on American Indian Affairs.

With a deep appreciation for traveling and learning from new perspectives, she is grateful to have spent three years studying in France for her Bachelor of Arts in journalism and global communications. She continues to freelance as a journalist with work published through Navajo Times, Peacock Plume, and Changing Womxn Collective.

Ksé:hahiyé Evynn Richardson is a proud citizen of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of Hollister, NC. Being extremely dedicated to uplifting Native youth-based services and initiatives, she served on the National UNITY Council Executive Committee as both the Southeastern Representative and the Vice-President for 3 consecutive years, and the inaugural cohort for CNAY’s Remembering Our Sisters fellowship.

Through these communities, Evynn has been able to uplift culturally relevant wellness practices, encourage youth to take holistic-based approaches to problem-solving within their communities, and advocate for healing and justice when it comes to the MMIP epidemic.  

When she is not plugged into these spaces, Evynn is using her platform, The Medicine Kid, to provide artwork for individuals, tribes, and organizations across Indian Country.

By utilizing her artistic gifts, she has been able to build an MMIP art advocacy toolkit, donate funds towards Native youth scholarships, help generate revenue for her tribe, and is currently working on a free archive of MMIP artwork for public use. It is her hope that the work she does will inspire others to utilize their gifts to give back to their communities in whatever ways possible.  

“If you want to know what your purpose is, all you have to do is ask yourself how you will feed the people.”