Brenna TwoBears ‘17

Good afternoon all!

It's been awhile since I've talked to you all. Each one of you did so much for me while I was at Whitman, and I know you're familiar with how quick I am to thank my family for helping me get where I am. Since I graduated I've started to include you in that list as well. All the amazing work I've done, and all that I plan on doing is in large part thanks to your support and all the work you put in helping me cultivate the foundation I'm building my career on.

My time as an Anne Ray Intern at SAR [Indian Arts Research Center, School of Advanced Research] has been life-changing. The director here, Brian Vallo, is from Acoma, one of the local tribes in the area, and he is well-known in the indigenous art world as someone who advocates for rights in these types of institutions. Half of the staff here went through the same internship I did, and are also Native with ties to the surrounding area. The rest of the employees have so much respect and determination to collaborate with tribes here, and make sure that they in turn work to uphold native artists, elders, and practices. There were so many absolutely amazing experiences that I cannot name them all, so I'll just mention a few outstanding ones: working on a speaker series, Trailblazers and Boundary Breakers: Honoring Native Women in Art; collaborating with passionate artists in the area to work with the Youth Detention Center and bring them art education; and finally, participating in a review of a part of the collection here with elders, artists, and representatives from the local tribe where the language most spoken was their indigenous language.

All of this led me to conversing with Brian about his work outside of New Mexico, including a consultancy with the Metropolitan Museum on their plans for a permanent addition to their canon of Native art. On a whim (and the encouragement of my supervisors here) I applied for some internships there, and I am beyond elated to inform you that you are all being contacted by the 2018-2019 Lifchez-Stronach Curatorial Intern in the American Wing! That means I'll be in NYC for 9 months working on their new exhibit (set to open this October), in addition to helping with several NAGPRA cases, training docents, and leading my own specialized set of tours (among other things).

I am so grateful for the influence you have all had on my life, and I just wanted to let you know that I sincerely would not be where I am without your presence.

Words cannot express my appreciation for all of you, so ahéhee’ and I hope this email finds you well.

Brenna