Dempsey Bob (Tahltan/Tlingit)
Lead Artist in Carving

            Dempsey Bob was born in 1948 in Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. He has been carving alder and cedar for more than thirty years, and, over the last decade, he has expanded his media to include bronze. He received traditional training from his parents and grandparents. From 1972-74, he attended the Kitanmax School of Northwest Coast Art, where he studied with Freda Diesing. Although his style is based on traditional forms, it is also marked with much innovation. Although he believes that these forms must change in order to remain alive, he strongly believes that artists must first have a deep understanding of the meanings of traditional forms before altering them.

Joe Feddersen (Colville)
Lead Artist in Printmaking

            Joe Feddersen was born in Omak, Washington in 1953. After attending Wenatchee Valley College, where he studies with Robert Graves, he received his B.F.A. in printmaking from the University of Washington and then received his M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin. Feddersen is a visual artist, writer, lecturer, and teacher whose focus is to examine the ways in which meanings are encoded into forms. Although his main medium is printing, he also produces installation work, photography, carving, and weaving. No matter the medium, his work is thickly layered not only in content but also formally.

Frank LaPena (Wintu Nomtipom)
Lead Artist in Painting

            Frank LaPena was born in 1937 in San Francisco, California. He acquired traditional knowledge from community elders, who included artists Frank Day and Mabel McKay. He received an M.A. in Anthropology from California State University, Sacramento, where he is currently Professor of Art and Ethnic Studies and the Director of Native American Studies. Since the time of his first exhibitions in the early 1960s, his painting has been constantly addressing new formal dilemmas while the content of the work has always referred to a symbolism informed by traditional spirituality. This spiritually, in turn, is kept vibrant by the dances and ceremonies he performs with the Maidu Dancers and Traditionalists.

Nora Naranjo-Morse (Santa Clara Pueblo)
Lead Artist in Ceramics

            Nora Naranjo-Morse was born in 1953 in Espanola, New Mexico. Although she is a writer, filmmaker, and installation artist, Naranjo-Morse is best known for her work in clay. This medium holds special significance not only because of its place within the history of Santa Clara Pueblo art, but also because of the traditional processing it requires.  While her forms convey an aesthetic that is non-traditional, the content of her work is always rooted in issues that concern her community. Her work, in fact, often reflects on the tensions of producing art for a Western art market that often praises its innovative approach while, at the same, marginalizes it as “native” art.

Haze Pete (Chehalis)
Lead Artist in Weaving

            Hazel Pete, a Siam (master weaver) of the Chehalis Tribe currently serves as “kiyah” (grandmother) to a large extended family teaching the art of basketry. Pete’s academic training is in art (Institute of American Indian Art), education and Native American Studies (The Evergreen State College) with graduate work in curriculum development at the University of Washington, where she worked with Dr. Willard Bill. Pete has focused on enabling Native Americans to succeed in school, assisting them to finish high school and enter college. She has worked intensively on multiple aspects of this issue by teaching Indian Art and History, lecturing on Indian History and Culture of the Pacific Northwest, and assisting tribal communities to reclaim traditional basketry knowledge and skills. In 1994-95, Pete was sponsored by the Washington Arts Commission Folk Arts Program as a “Master Artist” and in 1995-96 she joined the faculty at The Evergreen State College as a Daniel J. Evans Chair Scholar.