Anna Tsouhlarakis. Photo credit Anna Tsouhlarakis
Abby Webb, grant writer/manager with the SIPI board of regents.
Special thanks to Anna Tsouhlarakis.
Anna Tsouhlarakis is Greek, Creek, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. Anna developed the new Native American Art History course that Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) will pilot in Fall 2024.
The complexity of Native people and their identities drew Anna to sculpture, video performance, and installation. She uses her familial and formal training to disrupt stereotypes of Natives by telling multi-dimensional stories. The story drives her choice of technique and materials, defying boundaries around Native art.
As a child, Anna learned about Navajo culture from her father and grandmother, and time spent with her family on the Navajo Nation. She credits her father with teaching her the value of hard work and following her creative instincts. These lessons led to an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in Native American studies and studio art and a graduate degree from Yale University in sculpture. From there, she has completed art residencies, exhibited her work nationally and internationally, and won numerous awards. She is an assistant professor in the art and art history department at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Make It Right. 2020 Photo by Anna Tsouhlarakis
I met Anna in October 2023. Right away, I wanted to work with her on our curriculum development project. She had the passion and expertise to revamp an art history course previously taught at SIPI that lacked an Indigenous perspective. More importantly, her “why” showed a deep understanding of the privilege of education and how strengthening education strengthens Native communities. She noted that not everyone has access to diverse ways of learning about issues, including their own culture. Contributing to the future of her people through this project excited her. It also allowed her to expand and update the art curriculum at an institution attended by her family members.
Anna shared that she encounters few Native students at her large university, with only 1.5% of students identifying as American Indian. That equates to less than 600 students—and even fewer meet her through one of her courses. Still, she impacts her students by teaching them to share about themselves and their stories through the arts without the fear of judgment or someone questioning their identity, background, and experiences. She has had Native students thank her for this perspective.
The Native Guide Project STL. 2023 Photo by Anna Tsouhlarakis
Over 25 years, Anna’s art has incorporated various materials to tell stories. She has harvested wood from forests and scoured dump sites for abandoned objects on reservations. One of her pieces, inspired by the use of binding within Navajo culture, featured found objects bound with sinew. She transformed the practices of wrapping a baby in a cradleboard and tying hair into a bun into an art technique.
SHE MUST BE A MATRIARCH. 2023 Photo by Wes Maygar
From her life to her work, Anna channels her energy into elevating Native art. Thanks to the American Indian College Fund’s (Native Arts Curriculum Development and Enhancement Grant), Anna’s Native American Art History course curriculum will acknowledge the significant contributions Native artists from every region of North American have made to their communities, nationally, and internationally. The stereotypes don’t stand a chance against Anna’s curriculum.
