Courtesy photo
Vail’s Art in Public Places program announced Thursday it would not be moving forward with its summer 2024 Artist in Residency and related programs. The decision was made after concerns arose about the potential politicizing of the public art program, the town said in a release.
Earlier in the week, the town sent out a release announcing Denver-based muralist and activist Danielle SeeWalker as the artist for its summer residency. SeeWalker is Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta and a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota. She is a fine artist, muralist, writer, activist, and boy-mom of two, based in Denver.
On Thursday, the town said that while it “embraces her messaging and artwork surrounding Native Americans, in recent weeks her art and her public messaging has focused on the Israel/Gaza crisis.”
The town’s release added that while the programs around a two-week residency were being planned — including engagements with Vail Symposium as well as a class hosted by SeeWalker — there was never a proposal submitted for a mural. As such, no mural was approved and no contract was issued, it said. The intent had been for SeeWalker to produce a mural at the Vail Village parking structure pedestrian entrance at the Covered Bridge.
In an Instagram post by SeeWalker on Thursday, she wrote that she had done a site visit, made agreements and was committed to the program this summer. In the post, SeeWalker said the artwork — posted on Instagram‚ that led to the town’s cancellation was entitled “G is for Genocide.”
“It is about me expressing the parallels between what is happening to the innocent people in Gaza (innocent babies) to that of the genocide of Native American populations here in our lands,” SeeWalker wrote.
“The beauty of art is that it’s all about expression. I’ll never defend my art. In my opinion, “good” art makes you uncomfortable; It makes you question perspectives,” SeeWalker wrote.
“The Town of Vail’s solution is a closed-minded, judgmental one. They are consciously silencing a Native American woman artist which ripples down to silencing people of color as a whole. Their ‘art in public places’ program is on their own agenda. The residents of #Vail need to be reminded that they live a comfy, luxe, and privileged life on STOLEN LAND. Also, I’ll never be silenced,” she added.
In Vail’s release, it said that the “AIPP’s mission is to create a diverse and meaningful public art experience in Vail, but to not use public funds to support any position on a polarizing geopolitical issue.”
This story is from VailDaily.com
