In the Twin Cities arts scene this weekend, explore the Arikara heritage through vibrant paintings of Native women at All My Relations Arts, discover Black, Indigenous and other artists of color at the 33rd annual Powderhorn Art Fair, and catch the Guthrie play “English,” which explores questions of identity that arise in a class of Iranian students learning English. 

Paintings celebrate Arikara heritage

All My Relations Arts, a nonprofit art gallery that showcases Native American fine arts, will host “Arikara Proper,” a collection of acrylic paintings that tell the stories of the Arikara people. The artworks reflect the displacement of the Arikara from their traditional lands along the Missouri River due to pressure and conflicts with the Sioux in the early 1860s. 

Before becoming an artist, Jennifer White, an Arikara, balanced the demands of raising six children while working in the service industry in South Dakota.

“I was swinging beers, bartending and serving as a waitress—I had six kids by the time I was 30, so hustling for money was what I could do best,” she said. “But it was through that experience of working around people in a bar or serving food that I really got to meet different kinds of people and figure out what kind of person I am.”

At age 33, White decided to pick up a paintbrush. “I started working with acrylic on canvas and realized it was kind of a good gig,” she said. Without any formal training, she immersed herself in the world of art, mentored by elders in the Native American art community. 

“I really got to learn in such a traditional way,” she said. “I watched how they worked, learned about their processes and eventually, I landed on the idea that I need to make time to paint every day to get to the point where I could make it as an artist professionally.”

“Arikara Proper” is a deeply personal series of paintings that pay homage to White’s Arikara heritage. The Arikara are “one of the three smaller bands of Indians that were kind of pushed around and displaced by the Sioux that overran the Midwest here. But we were, once upon a time, river people,” she said. Her paintings are a visual narrative of her people’s history and resilience.

Her artwork features motifs such as bison, which represent the strength and protection of men in her life. “I was attracted to Salvador Dali’s elephants—these big, giant creatures that move slowly but they’re so incredibly strong,” she said. “So I paid tribute to the men in my life with my buffaloes. They stand on their tiptoes like ballerinas because they’re there to protect us and keep us safe, but at the same time, they don’t interfere with who we are as women.”

Other pieces celebrate the women in her life, including the intricate patterns of her grandmother’s star quilts.

In 2015, White founded Post Pilgrim Gallery in South Dakota to provide a platform for other Indigenous artists. “I wanted to keep Native art alive in Sioux Falls, not just for myself but for other American Indians. We need to see it to be it. Our youth need to know that regardless of where we come from, we can thrive.”
The opening reception of “Arikara Proper” will take place on Saturday, August 3, featuring a performance by the Minneapolis surf-punk band Black Widows and food from Trickster Tacos.

Discover local BIPOC artists and eats at Powderhorn Art Fair

The Powderhorn Art Fair is back for its 33rd year, transforming the south Minneapolis neighborhood into a vibrant hub for art and community. More than 190 local and regional artists will showcase their work, alongside 20 food trucks.

Among the artists are Malini Basu, a Minneapolis textile and printmaking artist originally from Kolkata, India; Tiphanie Copeland, a north Minneapolis artist who uses black and gold gesso, oil pastels and acrylics on repurposed materials; Anjana Parua, whose vibrant acrylic paintings chronicle everyday life, and Ricardo Levins Morales, a Minneapolis artist and social justice organizer of Puerto Rican descent whose mixed-media works explore themes of collective healing.

The fair will also host interactive arts activities in The Family Zone, including African drumming performances by the Black Storytellers Alliance and Ubuntu Drum Core Circle, a shadow puppetry workshop led by Taiwanese-Indonesian-American artist Andrew Young, a shaker-making session with artist Douglas R. Ewart, and an open mic hosted by TruArtSpeaks. 

Food options will include Taqueria El Patron, KCM Eggrolls, Vang Express and Big G Bbq. 

Play looks at what is learned and lost in an English class 

The Guthrie Theater is presenting “English,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by second-generation Iranian American Sanaz Toossi. The drama explores language, identity and culture through the story of Marjan, a teacher in Tehran who enforces an “English only” rule for her Iranian students preparing for proficiency tests. 

The Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective will share personal experiences with language and immigration at a post-show reception from 3 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 4. The theater will also host a “BIPOC Community Night” at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, August 9, offering discounted tickets to Black, Indigenous and other people of color with the promo code “BIPOC.”