Challenging the Myth and the Mythmaker

In the Center for the American West exhibit Never Vanishing: Reclaiming Indigenous Relatives, Landscapes, and Resilience in the American Southwest three Indigenous artists local to the Southwest — JayCee Beyale, Chelsea Kaiah, and Kristina Maldonado Bad Hand — were charged with creating artworks that challenged the persistent myths of the American West, especially as they emerged from the work of author and filmmaker Zane Grey.

The CAW interviewed each artist to get a sense of their specific response to Grey's mythmaking legacy. Read on to learn what each artist conceptualized for their artworks:

JayCee Beyale: "My work centers on issues of water rights, Indigenous land stewardship, and the protection of sacred sites." Read more...

Chelsea Kaiah: "Celebrating the humor, the resilience, and successes of Native people are always a highlight for me in my practice." Read More...

Kristina Maldonado Bad Hand: "[My] work creates space to hold both recognition and refusal: we can acknowledge what shaped us while choosing to reshape it."  Read More...