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Bluebird Cultural Initiative, founded by Amplify’s 2020 Indigenous American Artist Support Grant recipient, Steve Tamayo, foregrounds the history and cultural traditions of Native American peoples of the Great Plains by revitalizing Indigenous lifeways. Employing a wide range of culturally specific production techniques including brain tanning, natural dying, and game design, the socially engaged dimensions of Tamayo’s practice situate tradition squarely in the present. Each year he works closely with Native youth, through Bluebird Cultural Initiative, to promote intergenerational healing by reclaiming cultural ways of making, knowing, and being in relationship with plant, animal, and mineral kin.
Opening Friday, November 19th and on view by appointment at Generator Space through December 17th, Bluebird posits that traditions rooted in understanding the past are imperative to shaping the future. The exhibition frames cultural memory, knowledge sharing, and intergenerational learning as central tenants of contemporary art practice. Together, Bluebird Cultural Initiative artists transform the exhibition space into a place to gather, reflect, and make meaning of a shared cultural identity.
*Due to ongoing COVID-19 related public health concerns, viewings of Bluebird will be by appointment and limited to small groups of 5 people, or fewer, at a time. Please register through Eventbrite or email peter@amplifyarts.org to schedule a time to visit outside of regular gallery appointment hours. Face masks required.
Exhibition Dates: November 19th - December 17th, 2021
Regular Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays by appointment; 1pm - 5pm
About the Artists:
Bluebird Cultural Initiative works to enrich an understanding of the history and cultural traditions of Native American peoples of the Great Plains. They strive to revitalize the past through the arts and culture in order to energize the future for Native and Indigenous youth.
Steve Tamayo draws upon his family history as a member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe. His fine arts education (BFA from Sinte Gleska University), along with his cultural upbringing, have shaped him as an artist, historian, storyteller and dancer. Steve provides activities during his residencies that include art and regalia making, drumming, powwow dance demonstrations and lectures on the history, symbolism and meaning behind the Native customs and traditions.
Steve has considerable experience developing curricula and teaching both youth and adults, including work with the Native American Advocacy Program of South Dakota, Omaha Public Schools, Minnesota Humanities Council and Metropolitan Community College of Omaha. He also leads groups of students and teachers on cultural excursions on the Rosebud reservation, introducing them to the rich culture and way of life that is slowly being revived among native communities. He is a past Governor’s Heritage Art Award recipient, an honor bestowed for his contributions in the arts and Native American culture.
Tamayo has had work exhibited at The National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington, DC, The Kaneko in Omaha, NE, The Great Plains Museum in Lincoln, NE, RNG Gallery in Council Bluffs, IA, Gallery 92 in Fremont, NE, The Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY. He is a resident artist for Bold Nebraska which commissioned him to paint buffalo robes and set design for Willie Nelson and Neil Young and a tipi for President Obama.