Indigenous artists explore representation and identity in new RiNo district murals

Colorado Edition, a daily news program featured on our sister station KUNC, this week highlighted three artists who are creating murals in Denver’s RiNo Art District in honor of Native American Heritage Month. 

Every month, the RiNo Mural Program in Denver’s River North Art District pays local artists to create community installations. In celebration of Native American Heritage month, three Indigenous artists in Colorado have painted works exploring cultural representation and identity.

Colorado Edition spoke with the artists about their murals, and the connection between artistic expression and social change.

Danielle Seewalker is a Denver-based artist, and chair of Denver American Indian Commission. She is Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta and a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation in North Dakota.

Gregg Deal is an artist based in El Paso County and a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

JayCee Beyale is a Dineh artist and the co-curator and facilities manager at Dairy Arts Center in Boulder.

There’s a musical connection, too, for more than one of the artists. Deal’s mural, for instance, prominently features the phrase “I’m so bored with the USA,” which references a song by the Clash. 

 

Read more and listen to the story in full on KUNC.org. 

Read more about the RiNo Art District.