The Poeh Cultural Center Receives A Grant from the Ruth Foundation for the Arts 

Funding Will Be Used to Sustain Pueblo Arts Instructional Programs 

PUEBLO OF POJOAQUE, NM – The Poeh Cultural Center (the Poeh) was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Ruth Foundation of the Arts (Ruth Arts) through its inaugural Core Grant program. This grant provides approximately $50,000 in funding to each of 84 nonprofit arts organizations – $4.5 million in total. The one-year program builds out the Foundation’s programmatic scope and geographic reach.  

“We are proud to be a recipient of the Ruth Arts Foundation because of this shared vision to support artists in their communities,” said Karl Duncan, Executive Director of the Poeh Cultural Center. “Here at the Poeh, our traditional core values guide us in our programming and have led us to create free Pueblo Arts classes for the Native community and to establish community-based arts markets, such as the Pathways Indigenous Arts Festival, that feature many of our art students.” 

“With these funds, traditional arts from the Pueblo People will continue to flourish into the next generation,” said Cris Velarde, Poeh’s Cultural Arts Specialist. “As an elder, we need to do everything we can to revitalize our culture because it is our identity as Tewa People.”  

The Poeh Arts program was founded to help Native Americans, specifically the northern pueblo tribes and regional communities, preserve and promote the cultural arts of Northern New Mexico.  

The grant adds to an already ongoing successful year of fundraising, as this is the second grant received from Ruth Arts. The first was received in the spring of 2022, obtained through a nomination process by Santa Clara Pueblo artist Rose B. Simpson.  

“These programs are at once forward-facing and anchored in Ruth DeYoung Kohler II’s inimitable legacy,” says Executive Director Karen Patterson. “We’re proud to honor Ruth’s lifelong commitment to the arts by continuing to fund the organizations she personally supported and to develop new programs in her spirit of experimentation and community-building.”  

These new grant programs, alongside the Artists Choice Grant announced earlier in 2022, total $12.75 million in grantmaking by Ruth Arts. Consideration for future grant cycles will continue on an invitation-only basis as Ruth Arts grows and develops. Additional programs currently under development will be announced in the coming year. For more information about the Foundation’s grants and programming, please visit rutharts.org. 

ABOUT THE POEH   

Founded in 1988, the Pueblo of Pojoaque established the Poeh Cultural Center as the first permanent tribally owned and operated mechanism for cultural preservation and revitalization within the Pueblo communities of the northern Rio Grande Valley. The Poeh has since become a resource for Pueblo people to learn the arts and culture of their ancestors. The facility resembles a traditional Pueblo village with its adjacent art studio buildings and outdoor gathering areas. The Center emphasizes the arts and cultures of all Pueblo People, focusing on the Tewa-speaking Pueblos of Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Ohkay Owingeh, Santa Clara, Tesuque, and Nambé. 

ABOUT THE RUTH FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS 

The Ruth Foundation for the Arts (Ruth Arts) is a new grantmaker based in the Midwest and dedicated to meeting the evolving needs and lived experiences of artists, communities, and arts organizations whose work is anchored by visual arts, performing arts, and arts education. Based in Milwaukee and national in scope, the Foundation reflects the culture and spirit of the Midwest, which long inspired its namesake and benefactor Ruth DeYoung Kohler II. Led by Executive Director Karen Patterson, as well as Program Directors Kim Nguyen and Rachel Reichert, the Foundation is a responsive and adventurous new force in the realm of arts philanthropy. 

ABOUT RUTH DEYOUNG KOHLER II 

A lifetime supporter of the arts, Ruth DeYoung Kohler II (1941-2020) was deeply committed to artists and consequently, broke down hierarchies and categories within the art world to center artists, support communities, and engage with overlooked art forms. She made significant contributions to the arts across the U.S., including serving as Chairman and member of the Wisconsin Arts Board, acting as a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Organization panel member and past site evaluator, as founder of the Preservation Committee of Kohler Foundation, Inc., and Director of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center for more than forty years. 

Among the many awards and honors Ruth received are the Governor’s Award for the Arts, Wisconsin; Visionary Award, American Craft Museum; Visionary Leadership Award, Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art; Visionary Lifetime Achievement Award, Museum of Art and Design; and honorary doctorates from various institutions of higher learning. 

She believed passionately that the arts reveal who are as a people: past, present and future. She promoted equitable and inclusive access to the arts in her local community, her home state of Wisconsin, and on a national and international levels. 

Source: Poeh Cultural Center and Ruth Foundation for the Arts 

Media Contact: Cougar Vigil, Outreach Coordinator – cvigil@pojoaque.org 

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ATALM Recognizes the Poeh Cultural Center as a Model for Museums and Cultural Centers

TEMECULA, CA – The Poeh Cultural Center received an award for the “Top Ten Models of Native Museums and Cultural Centers” from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums Conference (ATALM) at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.  

The award ceremony, held Tuesday, October 25, marks a milestone in the Poeh’s ongoing commitment to serve Tewa Pueblo and the Indigenous communities. Alongside nine other tribal institutions, Karl Duncan, Executive Director of the Poeh Cultural Center accepted the award from ATALM Board of Governors member Rick West, President/CEO Autry National Center of the American West and Crosby Kemper, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).  

 “We are humbled and grateful for this award. We are all about service and everything we do is about the people,” said Karl Duncan on receiving the award. “During the pandemic, we tried to find ways to help the community. Throughout the pandemic we did everything from meals on wheels to handing out thousands of dollars in direct financial aid to artists and people in financial need.”  

ATALM recognized the Poeh Cultural Center for serving as a resource for Pueblo people to learn and continue the arts and culture of their ancestors. The Poeh Cultural Center provides a sustainable funding stream for cultural and artistic activities and stimulating knowledge of Pueblo legacies and traditions.   

“We are trying to find other ways to train Native entrepreneurs and Museum professionals by utilizing what we have at the Poeh Center,” said Duncan. “This award is a nod that we are doing the right thing and that the work we do is important. I would like to thank the Pueblo of Pojoaque community, tribal council, tribal leadership, and everybody that has been a part of the Poeh story.”  

Recipients of the Top Ten Model Museums and Cultural Centers Award include the Choctaw Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Citizen Potawatomi, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux, Shawnee, Southern Ute, Suquamish, Tribe, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and the Wyandotte Nation. These institutions served as models for the Culture Builds Community Project sponsored by ATALM with funding from IMLS and the National Museum of the American Indian. 

ABOUT THE POEH  

Founded in 1988, the Pueblo of Pojoaque established the Poeh Cultural Center as the first permanent tribally owned and operated mechanism for cultural preservation and revitalization within the Pueblo communities of the northern Rio Grande Valley. The Poeh has since become a resource for Pueblo people to learn the arts and culture of their ancestors. The facility resembles a traditional Pueblo village with its adjacent art studio buildings and outdoor gathering areas. The Center emphasizes the arts and cultures of all Pueblo People, focusing on the Tewa-speaking Pueblos of Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Ohkay Owingeh, Santa Clara, Tesuque, and Nambé.  

Media Contact:  

Cougar Vigil  

505.455.5061  

cvigil@pojoaque.org  

SOURCE The Poeh Cultural Center 

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Poeh Cultural Center Presents a New Exhibit: Inspired Creations, Art We Enjoy

October 14, 2022 – January 6, 2023. Opening Reception October 14, 2022, from 4 pm -5 pm 

PUEBLO OF POJOAQUE, NM — The Poeh Cultural Center is jumping into autumn with Inspired Creations, Art We Enjoy, which will run from October 14, 2022, through January 6, 2023. This exhibition features works from Poeh’s permanent collection and were selected by the Poeh Cultural Center staff.  

The staff chose Items for the show for various reasons, but for some, it was personal. “I chose a traditional seed pot created by my Mother Virginia Gutierrez of Nambe Pueblo,” said Macario Guiterrez, a Pojoaque Tribal Member and Poeh’s Archive Manager. “Some of my fondest memories as a young child was my mother working with her clay and planting the family garden. The comforting sounds of my mom whispering to her clay creation and humming and singing traditional Tewa songs as I tried to mimic her. I think that is why she was partial to making seed pots. She knew the importance of what this vessel represented. This seed jar would have been used to store harvested seeds for the next planting season.”  

Inspired Creations, Art We Enjoy is an opportunity to view art through an Indigenous interpretation and analysis. Of the 19 staff members, some have been employees with the Poeh since the construction of the facilities in the 2000s. The staff represent diverse backgrounds, interests, and cultures and are also artists, musicians, and tribal officials. Essentially, this exhibit hopes to answer the question, “Who gets to talk about art?”  

“It reminded me of a family affair as we made our choices, picked the works, and described how they resonated with us,” said Stephen Fadden, Poeh’s Programming Director. “We’re from so many different backgrounds, but it still felt like we’re all related.”  

This collaboration of the Poeh staff provides an opportunity to breathe new life into the collection, idea-sharing, learning, and installation design and show pride in Poeh’s multi-decade efforts in the preservation and celebration of Tewa culture.   

An opening reception will be held on Friday, October 14, 2022, with refreshments served from 4 pm to 5 pm. Face masks are optional but are encouraged for guests.  

For more information, contact the Poeh Cultural Center at 505-455-5041 

ABOUT THE POEH   

Founded in 1988, the Pueblo of Pojoaque established the Poeh Cultural Center as the first permanent tribally owned and operated mechanism for cultural preservation and revitalization within the Pueblo communities of the northern Rio Grande Valley. The Poeh has since become a resource for Pueblo people to learn the arts and culture of their ancestors. The facility resembles a traditional Pueblo village with its adjacent art studio buildings and outdoor gathering areas. The Center emphasizes the arts and cultures of all Pueblo People, focusing on the Tewa-speaking Pueblos of Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Ohkay Owingeh, Santa Clara, Tesuque, and Nambé.    

Media Contact:   

Cougar Vigil   

505.455.5061   

cvigil@pojoaque.org   
 

SOURCE The Poeh Cultural Center   

Poeh Cultural Center’s Art Festival Celebrates an Indigenous Future

PUEBLO OF POJOAQUE, NM – Only a century ago, people thought Native Americans were vanishing, and that notion has changed as the Poeh Cultural Center (Poeh) is declaring the “Future is Indigenous” at its second annual Pathways Indigenous Arts Festival (Pathways). The event, sponsored by the Poeh Cultural Center at Posuwaegeh (Pueblo of Pojoaque), will be held at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino on August 19, 20, & 21, 2022. Pathways organizers are pleased that the Festival will be hosted on Indigenous land as an Indigenous-led event.  

Launched in 2021, Pathways was established to provide economic opportunities to local and regional Indigenous economies impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Tourism is a great source of revenue for individual Indigenous artists and tribal institutions like the Poeh. Like many tribal communities, the Poeh had to close its doors to the public for nearly two years. Several grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services enabled Poeh to reach out to the community through projects like Pathways that promote Native American entrepreneurs.  

“We’ve been actively promoting ways we can assist Indigenous artists and entrepreneurs since the beginning of our traditional arts program at the Poeh, and the need became even more pressing due to the economic slowdown in the wake of COVID,” said Karl Duncan, Executive Director of the Poeh Cultural Center.   

Despite the slowdown, the Poeh staff continued to plan ways to train and promote Native creatives through entrepreneurial training, online sales, and traditional arts classes. As the Poeh reopened its doors to the public in the Spring of 2022, it already had solidified plans for the upcoming Festival.  

“We engaged artists and the community to find projects to regain momentum. Our first festival seemed like a great way to celebrate their efforts while consciously creating the potential for the future,” said Macario Gutierrez, one of the festival planners. “We featured artists, demonstrations, performers, fashion design, and panel discussions funded by the National Museum of the American Indian and Indigenous short film screenings by Sundance Film Festival.”  

The festival has grown in size and popularity. Pathways will showcase more than 350 Indigenous artists and dozens of musical performances, including an event in collaboration with Native Guitars Tour. Other events include film and panel discussions, a Tewa-centered fashion show, a variety of food vendors, and activities for kids.  

Pathways’ success can be attributed to an array of arts, culture, and economic entities like the National Museum of the American Indian, First Nations Development Institute, Sundance Institute, the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe Arts & Culture Department, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the United States Department of Agriculture.   

“We are asserting our role in creating a future for Native American art defined by Native creatives, as well as artistic and Indigenous entrepreneurism,” said Duncan. “We’ve been using ‘The Future is Indigenous’ as our mantra. The festival is only one of several projects we have initiated to provide or promote venues for Native creatives to succeed.”   

Face masks are optional but are highly encouraged for guests. Festival highlights will be shared on Poeh’s Instagram page: @poehculturalcenter  

“More than a market, we want to emphasize our sense of indigenous community, locally, regionally, and even nationally,” Duncan said. “We want to claim a new space beyond the commonly known downtown Santa Fe spaces and bring indigenous community talent to a new generation.”  

For more information on Pathways Indigenous Arts Festival and tickets for the Native Guitars Tour, please visit: https://poehcenter.org/pathways/ . The Poeh Cultural Center can also be reached at 505-455-5041.

ABOUT THE POEH  

Founded in 1988, the Pueblo of Pojoaque established the Poeh Cultural Center as the first permanent tribally owned and operated mechanism for cultural preservation and revitalization within the Pueblo communities of the northern Rio Grande Valley. The Poeh has since become a resource for Pueblo people to learn the arts and culture of their ancestors. The facility resembles a traditional Pueblo village with its adjacent art studio buildings and outdoor gathering areas. The Center emphasizes the arts and cultures of all Pueblo People, focusing on the Tewa-speaking Pueblos of Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Ohkay Owingeh, Santa Clara, Tesuque, and Nambé.   

Media Contact:  

Cougar Vigil  

505.455.5061  

cvigil@pojoaque.org  

SOURCE The Poeh Cultural Center  

THE HOMECOMING OF THE PEOPLE’S POTTERY