Denver artist Danielle SeeWalker holds her painting “G is for Genocide.” Her work draws parallels between the plight of the Palestinian people and Indigenous Americans. (Provided by Danielle SeeWalker)
Complaints about a pro-Palestinian piece from artist Danielle SeeWalker prompted the town of Vail to cancel her residency program there earlier this month, despite SeeWalker never even submitting a design for her planned mural.
Instead of scaring her off, though, SeeWalker will return to the mountain town in June.
“There seems to be an article or an interview about it almost every day, so I’m continuing to get feedback,” SeeWalker said in a phone interview. “For the most part, they are positive responses.”
There have also been discussions to bring the mural to Pueblo, she said, and other towns whose officials and arts administrators have reached out to her in recent weeks.
SeeWalker will appear at the Vail Symposium on June 19 as part of a panel called “Still Here: Redirecting the Native American Narrative” (the title was inspired by SeeWalker’s nonfiction book of the same name. It will be hosted by scholar and author Clay Jenkinson. The event promises to share SeeWalker’s ” art and her activism, including The Red Road Project, a mission to document through words and visuals the inspiring and resilient stories of Native America,” organizers wrote.
Her invitation to the symposium predates the controversy, but that hasn’t changed organizers’ desire to have her there. “She was always going to be part of this, so when we heard about the residency news, this was an opportunity to talk about it,” said Katie Coakley, marketing manager for the nonprofit, donor-funded Vail Symposium.
A public, mediated forum seems desperately needed. About three weeks ago, some Vail residents had gone on SeeWalker’s Instagram account to look at her previous work.
That includes an image of a woman confronting the viewer behind a black and white keffiyeh — a symbol of the opposition to Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and other occupied territories. It’s called “G is for Genocide,” and SeeWalker, a Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta and a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, was drawing parallels to the genocide of Indigenous people by European settlers.
The image provoked condemnation and the residency cancellation, but also news articles in publications such as The Art Newspaper and Hyperallergic. Support came from The Denver Post’s own op-ed page, which cast the town’s official statement as one that “didn’t even attempt to disguise their motives” in stymying political discussion, and the overall situation as “egregious.”
“Contrary to the Post’s assertion, Vail has not ‘silenced’ SeeWalker,” wrote Scott Levin, mountain states regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, in a letter to The Post. “She is free to display her art. The First Amendment prohibits the government from infringing on free speech. It doesn’t require the government to use taxpayer dollars to provide a platform to artists.”
SeeWalker, however, has said town officials didn’t even grant her the opportunity to talk about her work before canceling her residency, and pausing the program in general. She said that she is not aligning herself with Hamas, as some in the Jewish community have charged, but rather showing sympathy for the plight of Palestinian refugees and citizens who have been bombed and displaced since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 20223, attack on Israel.
Town officials said they weren’t trying to quash difficult conversations. They haven’t commented much beyond their official statement from May 14, which said the decision not to pursue a contract with SeeWalker was made after “thoughtful consideration and discussion by the AIPP board and town staff,” Vail Daily reported.
“The town of Vail thinks our community should have any type of difficult conversations they want or need to have,” said Kris Widlak, director of communications for Vail, in an email to The Denver Post. “The symposium is a wonderful place to do that. They’ve hosted these types of discussions before, and the town has been a sponsor of the symposium every year (including this year).”
Programmers there have also not shied away from other controversial topics, Coakley said, including outdoor art installations by Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude. The Christo projects have, over the years, drawn ire statewide for their potential impacts on natural environments. Their long-suffering, proposed piece “Over the River,” which would have placed a silvery covering along the Arkansas River between Cañon City and Salida, is still listed under “Projects Not Realized” on their website. (Christo died in 2020.)
“Our programming committee is very involved in seeing what people are talking about,” Coakley said. “With (SeeWalker) in Vail, we want to provide a forum for that.”
Discussing the politics of art and oppressed peoples can be prickly, SeeWalker said, especially with the charged conversations, protests and ongoing horrors in the Middle East.
“I did have a meeting with several people from the Vail Symposium and they were very nervous about it,” SeeWalker said. “So we’re trying to find a new venue to host this, which I find interesting. They also brought up security issues, so we’ll see how it will go. But I’m excited to have this voice to discuss my art.”
Those concerns were early in the process, according to the symposium’s Coakley, who said officials there always take the security of its guests and patrons seriously.
“It’s our priority, and we’ve had other speakers in the past who we’ve brought in security for,” she said. “I can’t say at this moment if we’re going to have a very visible security presence. But I doubt it.”
SeeWalker sees glimmers of hope in her return to town — and the increasing profile of Indigenous art in the Denver art scene. She has served as a mayor-appointed city commissioner for the Denver American Indian Commission since 2019, and kept a close eye on the representation of Indigenous artists in every other aspect.
“I can’t speak on behalf of all Indigenous people, but I’ve seen a lot of wonderful opportunities (by officials of) museums and galleries who have reached out to me,” she said. “When I first moved here five years ago, there was also zero presence of (contemporary) Native American art in galleries and museums, and now it’s gaining a bit of momentum.”
