West campus news Releases Archive

Native American high school students study at the West campus

Jun. 14, 2005

ASU/Heard Museum Guild art workshop

Nine incredibly talented Native American high school students from around the country, two from as far away as Shishmaref, Alaska, are at Arizona State University’s West campus June 12 to 17, experiencing university life while honing their artistic skills. The students are participating in the fifth annual ASU/Heard Museum Guild summer art workshop.

The students were selected based on art that was submitted to the annual Heard Museum Guild Native American Student Art Show and Sale—the largest student art competition of any kind in the United States. Winners of a nationally recognized scholarship opportunity, these students faced tough competition to get to this point. They were chosen by a blue ribbon panel of judges who examined more than 1,200 pieces of art at the Heard Museum in May.

“The students come from across the country to meet and work with students from other Native American cultures, and we think that’s really important,” said Emily Cutrer, dean of ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. “This year our workshop participants hail from the White Mountain Apache, Inupiaq, Navajo, Pima and Zuni tribes.”

In addition to Shishmaref, Alaska, which is located on tiny Sarichef Island, a few miles south of the Arctic Circle, the students are traveling from Zuni, Ft. Wingate, and Gallup, New Mexico; and from Whiteriver, Flagstaff, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

“For some of the students it will be their first look at university life. They’ll discover what it’s like to live in a college dorm and, for one week, they will experience a university environment, learning from experienced college level faculty and professional artists. The courses offered include three dimensional drawing, digital graphic arts, traditional black-and-white darkroom photography, and creative writing,” said Robert Taylor, department chair of Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance.

“These students are all fine artists in their own right and they represent the future of the Native American arts community. They’re the ones to watch. In the future they will be on the cutting edge of a new Indian Arts movement,” said Bill Faust, a well-known Native American art dealer in Scottsdale and one of the sponsors of the workshop.

The Native American Student Art Workshop has received significant recognition for its efforts, earning the prestigious “Best of the West Award” from Westmarc, as well as ASU’s West campus recognition for “Outstanding Diversity Programs.”

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