This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
More than 60 works of art by 26 contemporary Native American artists and designers are on exhibit in a new show at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“This Land Calls Us Home: Indigenous Relationships with Southeastern Homelands” opened Nov. 6 and will be in the gallery at the T North Concourse for a year as part of the airport’s art program.
The works express the visions of Cherokee, Mvskoke and other Native Americans living in, near and beyond the Southeastern homelands and reflect the relationships that Native Americans today have with their regional roots.
Credit: Courtesy of Johnnie Lee Diacon
Credit: Courtesy of Johnnie Lee Diacon
Most of the artists are descendants of the ancient mound builders and Cherokee peoples who are indigenous to the region. Five relationship categories are included in the show: community and autonomy, communication and expression, heritage and legacies, identity and diversity, and nature and nurture.
Among the artists included in the exhibit are Luzene Hill, Johnnie Lee Diacon and Tony A. Tiger.
Hill, an Atlanta native, is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and now lives and works in the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina.
Credit: Courtesy of Luzene Hill
Credit: Courtesy of Luzene Hill
A multidisciplinary artist, she is best known for immersive installations and performance collaborations. She has exhibited throughout the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan and the United Kingdom. Some of her work was included in the Atlanta Contemporary group show “Returns: Cherokee Diaspora and Art” in 2022.
Diacon is Mvskoke, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (Raprakko Etvlwa) and Deer Clan (Ecovlke) and has nearly 40 years of experience in fine art.
He lives on the Mvskoke Reservation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and works in multiple mediums, including acrylic, oil and watercolors. He has done 3D assemblages, beadwork and sequential art for graphic novels such as “Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers Volume One” and “Chilocco Indian School: A Generational Story.”
Credit: Courtesy of Tony A. Tiger
Credit: Courtesy of Tony A. Tiger
Tiger is an enrolled member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, with Mvskoke Creek and Seminole lineage. He is an artist, independent indigenous art curator and art educator.
His exhibitions projects include “Speak: Speak While You Can,” which focused on the revitalization of indigenous languages in Oklahoma, and “Return From Exile: Contemporary Southeastern Indian Art,” with colleague Bobby C. Martin.
His art is included in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma, the Museum of Contemporary Native Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the First American Museum of Art in Oklahoma City.
Credit: Courtesy of Sandy Fife Wilson
Credit: Courtesy of Sandy Fife Wilson
The “This Land Calls Us Home” project was led by the Rev. Chebon Kernell, a Seminole/Mvskoke scholar and educator who serves as executive director of the Native American Comprehensive Plan of the United Methodist Church. He developed the exhibit with a team of museum professionals and scholars. T
The organization will launch an accompanying website later this year. The church’s Global Ministries group is presenting the exhibit in collaboration with its Native American Comprehensive Plan, which is designed to amplify the voices of indigenous peoples.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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