Creative Indigenous Collective

THE ARTISTS WHO MAKE UP THE Creative Indigenous Collective resist classification. So does their art, which ranges across cinematography, textile design, airbrush painting, and quillwork. But members of the collective share a single purpose: They create to lend voice to their people. To counter stereotypical and romanticized portrayals of Native culture, they present Native artists’ own unique perspectives of their history and of contemporary society.

The artists — Robert Martinez, John Isaiah Pepion, Holly Young, Lauren Monroe Jr., Louis Still Smoking, Gina Still Smoking, and Ben Pease — met through an art exhibition. Hailing from four Northern Plains states and six American Indian tribes, they come together through weekly conference calls to share ideas and advise each other on how to utilize different mediums for creative projects. In addition to producing the first contemporary Native American art exhibition at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, in 2018, Creative Indigenous Collective artists teach intensive workshops for high school students and also work with reservation schools and youth programs.

Robert Martinez

On the second story of his house outside of Riverton, Wyoming, Robert Martinez works in his airy studio. The walls pulse with his expressive portraits. This Northern Arapaho artist specializes in the airbrush technique. Air compressors squat next to desks cluttered with air guns and brilliant paints. “I use