The community is invited to attend and celebrate the Nuwu Art Collective Exhibition
Nuwu Art invites the community to view the Nuwu Art Collective exhibition, Beginnings, to celebrate the soft opening of the Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center on Friday, Sept. 16, and Saturday, Sept. 17.
The Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center, along with the Nuwu Art + Activism Studios, are POC-owned spaces in Las Vegas that host a variety of community-building efforts. Nuwu Art works to strengthen cultural knowledge and identity through the arts, activism, and education. They advocate for the equity of all communities through an ongoing process of decolonization.
The Nuwu Art Collective consists of artists Juan Cuevas (Quetzal Visions), Xochil Xitlalli (Xochil Art), Theo Tso (War Paint Studios & Captain Paiute Comics), Brent Holmes, Ashanti McGee, and Fawn Douglas. Filmmaker Ben-Alex Dupris will also show his short documentary “Nuwu Means the People,” featured in the Smithsonian’s FUTURES exhibit. This film follows the journey of partners Fawn Douglas and A.B. Wilkinson, whose collaborative efforts helped create the spaces at Nuwu Art.
Fawn Douglas conceived the Nuwu Art Collective, which sprung from the talented artists at the Nuwu Art Studios. These Las Vegas creatives all value community building and creating safe spaces for youth and families to explore their cultures as they use their unique skills to decolonize through the arts and education. Cultural revitalization and exploration are central themes for those who gather at Nuwu Art, as artists at the studios draw, paint, sculpt, weave, and perform stories inspired by Native American (Paiute, etc.), Indigenous Latin American (Mexica, etc.), African American, and various traditions.
Nuwu Art Collective Beginnings Exhibit
Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center Soft Opening
Gallery Opening Reception
● Friday, Sept. 16, 6 to 9 p.m.
Community Center Performances + Presentations
● Saturday, Sept. 17, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
1331 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89104
Beginnings Running Dates: Sept. 16 to Dec. 1
Gallery Hours TBA
Juan Cuevas (Quetzal Visions) utilizes painting, sculpting, and interactive art installations to heal himself and the people his art touches. He possesses Indigenous roots in Mexico and New Mexico among the Tiwa Pueblos. Quetzal envisions his art as a mechanism that allows him to reclaim his Indigeneity. Another goal of his art is to facilitate a connection for the viewer back to the Creator, reminding them there is still magic in the world and that we are all a part of it.
Ben-Alex Dupris is an award-winning filmmaker who is Mnicoujou Lakota and an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, located in Washington state. As a director, writer, and producer, Dupris creates films that push the boundaries of Indigeneity beyond traditional pastoralism into the gray areas of 21st century America. By highlighting Native struggles within historically colonial society, Ben’s storytelling liberates relationships within “Indian Country.” In this way, his work encourages positive conversations toward healing and change.
Brent Holmes is a renowned artist, curator, and cultural animator whose work pushes the viewer and the limits of the possible. Brent is a multi-disciplinary artist with an immense range. His collection of work displays a deep affinity for words, the body, and its senses. Brent often uses culinary art to entertain the intellectual pallet and utilizes his body and performance for story-telling that is rooted in African American history, struggle, and brilliance.
Ashanti McGee is an artist, curator, mother, grant writer, volunteer, and community organizer. For two decades, she has promoted the arts among groups at the local, state, and regional levels. As part of the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), Ashanti is a leading advocate for several arts initiatives that support projects in the U.S. West. She is also a respected artist with a background in painting, drawing, illustration, and sculpture.
Theo Tso is an enrolled member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and also has ties to the Navajo (Diné). He is also the creative mind behind Captain Paiute: Indigenous Defender of the Southwest. As a youth, Theo was drawn into the world of comic book superheroes and villains. He noticed the absence of Indigenous characters and envisioned Captain Paiute as a corrective that would also help keep the culture alive. Today, Tso is the owner and operator of War Paint Studios, which houses Captain Paiute Comics.
Xochil Xitlalli is an artist and activist whose matriarchy hails from the Nahuas in Noxtepec, Mexico. She is the first-generation child of immigrant parents and grew up in Los Angeles, California. In 2005 Xochil relocated to Las Vegas, where she has lived, worked, and continues to study the heritage of her forbearers. As a self-taught artist, Xochil fuses the past, present, and future among several mediums: acrylic on canvas, clay sculpture, jewelry, sewing/textiles, digital arts, and mixed media.
Fawn Douglas is an Indigenous American artist, activist, and enrolled member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. She comes from a proud mixed heritage of Las Vegas Paiute, Moapa Paiute, Southern Cheyenne, Creek, Pawnee, and Scottish. Fawn is the head matriarch of Nuwu Art + Activism Studios, located in the heart of the Historic Huntridge Neighborhood in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is dedicated to the intersections of art, activism, community, education, culture, identity, place, and sovereignty.
The Nuwu Art team consists of Fawn Douglas and Dr. A.B. Wilkinson. Fawn is an Indigenous artist and activist who holds an MFA from UNLV (nuwuart.com/fawn-bio). A.B. is an associate professor in the Department of History at UNLV. Dr. Wilkinson has research and teaching interests in African American history, Native American history, Ethnic Studies, decolonial theory, and critical race theory in the Americas and Caribbean. Fawn and A.B. are co-owners of the Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center and Nuwu Art + Activism Studios, located on Maryland Parkway in the historic Huntridge neighborhood of Las Vegas, Nevada. These studios house the Nuwu Art Collective – a group of diverse artists who share space at Nuwu Art and express themselves through drawing, painting, film, curation, performance, mixed media, and other mediums. The Nuwu Art + Activism Studios also hold space for three non-profit organizations – Indigenous Educators Empowerment, Mass Liberation Project (NV), and IndigenousAF.
IndigenousAF (IAF Inc.) is a non-profit organization in Nevada that supports community work and projects which strengthen Indigenous cultures, knowledge, and identity through the arts and education. IAF Inc. raises and distributes funding directly for experienced individuals, groups, and sister organizations that help to preserve and extend cultural traditions within our beautifully diverse communities. IndigenousAF members also help manage and organize programming at the Indigenous Arts Facilities, located at Nuwu Art. IAF Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) in the state of Nevada. All donations are tax deductible and go to funding for artists, cultural education, and arts programming.