Eight months with California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project

March 12, 2024January 18, 2025by Ruth Chase

There is an exhibition that is the result of an eight month journey I’ve been on with California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP), “The Story of Land, Water, and People.”

'Uba Seo Nisenan Arts and Culture window in downtown Nevada City

In the Summer of 2023, it was so exciting to create and co-lead an outdoor experience at Sierra Friends Center/ Woolman in Nevada City, CA where the Tribal youth and elders went into the woods to create art installations with a focus on belonging to the environment.

This experience was part of a larger program to engage in Cultural practices and protocols as tools for healing, Cultural revitalization, and trauma mitigation.

I’m deeply grateful for this opportunity
to amplify Nisenan narratives through
the Arts. This journey has instilled in me a profound
appreciation for the transformative ability of storytelling
through artistic expression.

Working with Shelly Covert, Saxon Thomas, Mira Clark, and the Tribal Elders through weekly workshops, online and at ‘Uba Seo: Nisenan Arts and Culture, has been a very powerful experience.

Using the power of art to engage in
meaningful dialogue, to heal, and to educate
the public and ourselves transform lives.

Funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, through the Upstate California Creative Corps program and builds upon CHIRP’s Visibility Through Art initiative. It fosters collaborations between artists and Tribal culture bearers to increase public awareness and engage the community in discussions about Tribal social justice, Nisenan history, and environmental issues related to water and land.

I am a California Creative Corps Grantee through my work with CHIRP.

Saving the best for last……

The exhibition is the result of a journey the Tribe embarked on through a series of gatherings and workshops that centered on discussions about land, water, and people. The eight-month exchange resulted in the creation of paintings, drawings, beadwork, film, and sculpture.

OPENING ART RECEPTION
Saturday, March 16th, 6- 9:30 pm

EXHIBITING
Nisenan Tribal Member Artists: Shelly Covert, Ginger Covert, Lorena Davis, Sarah Thomas, Cindy Buero, Debra McBrien, Saxon Thomas
Participating Artists: Nikila Badua, Maile Claire, Mira Clark, Ruth Chase, Jan-Michelle Sawyer
Native | Nisenan Special Guest Artists: Tiffany Adams and Deerstine Madrone Suehead

The Story of Land, Water, and People will build on the foundation of CHIRP’s Visibility Through Art (VTA) initiative. This project coordinates collaborations among artists and Tribal Culture bearers to increase public awareness and engage the public related to social justice, through the lens of environment-related issues including, land, water, and people.

In addition, non-Tribal artists collaborated individually with CHIRP on artworks to create respectful and reflective works. These conversations come to light in this exhibition by utilizing art as the conduit. This event will promote the visibility of important Tribal social justice issues and expand conversations.

This activity is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, through the Upstate California Creative Corps program, administered by Nevada County Arts Council.

EVENT PAGE

Image Credits:

‘Uba Seo Nisenan Arts and Culture window in downtown Nevada City,
Shelly Covert, Ruth Chase, me again, Mira Clark
Workshop at Woolman with Tribal Elders
Ruth Chase video footage
Image of video footage of interviews we did together

BLUR

June 5, 2021September 3, 2021by Ruth Chase

BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between

curated Ruth Chase and Brynn Farwell

Exhibition Dates
August 6 – September 11, 2021

Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 4 PM

Art Opening
Friday, August 20, 5 – 7 PM

Artist Talk
Thursday, September 9, 5 – 7 PM

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HOME – OF/BY/FORALL and #Miami

March 2, 2020March 2, 2020by Ruth Chase

Last week Eliza Tudor of Nevada County Arts Council, Tracy Pepper of Color Me Human, Donn K. Harris of California Arts Council, and I were in #Miami for four days joining the #changenetwork of OF/BY/FORALL.

Miami of by for all ruth chase — Ruth, Tracy, Donn

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I AM HERe Installation

May 15, 2019August 1, 2021by Ruth ChaseLeave a comment

Women in a Rural County

Women are an essential part of any community, yet their sense of belonging is often tied into gender roles, not always satisfying their sense of belonging. Mother, sister, partner, we all have women in our lives. I AM HERe is intended to mirror the voices of how men and women view women’s unique sense of belonging against the backdrop of our rural community. Lead artist Ruth Chase has sought to examine her own sense of belonging over the course of a year by asking questions through social media and taking her personal journey alongside the community. Now, the public is invited to share their own stories about themselves or the women in their lives by participating in the public art installation.

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Documentary ‘Belonging’ featured at Wild & Scenic Film Festival

January 17, 2019July 3, 2019by Ruth Chase

Laura Peterson
Special to The Union
January 15, 2019

In her film, “Belonging” local artist and director, Ruth Chase documents the stories of people living in Nevada County, including Shelly Covert, spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria, Nisenan Tribe.

The film is an initiative of Nevada County Art Council and funded in part by California Arts Council through its Artists in Communities Program. Chase and Covert are scheduled to show the film during this week’s 17th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival comes to Nevada City and Grass Valley.

The pair are scheduled to participate in activities such as opening reception, art shows, fireside chats, coffee talks, workshops and film panels throughout the five-day environmental and adventure film festival that attracts filmmakers, change-makers, and activists from around the globe.

The two sat down and answered a few questions. Chase had this to say:

What inspired you to make the film, “Belonging?”

“Belonging” is about how people find a sense of belonging through the land, the earth, and the environment. I was initially interested in examining the unique connection people have with the land they were born on and if that connection changes when residing in a place other than their birthplace.

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Racial Literacy | BELONGING to the Land

July 6, 2018August 8, 2019by Ruth Chase

RACIAL LITERACY CAFE ON BELONGING TO THE LAND

Sunday, July 29, 3-5p

Inspired by Ruth Chase’s ambitious multi-media installation about the land we live on and the notion of belonging, Racial Literacy, Nevada County offers a free, facilitated community conversation in the World Café style at Summer Thyme’s where the BELONGING Community Exhibition, curated by Ruth is on display.

We are collaborating with Chase to expand her artistic intention by creating the opportunity for local residents to experience, as she states, “powerful insights that allow people to find a sense of belonging within their community.” We also welcome Nevada City Rancheria Secretary Shelly Covert.

Join us to talk with each other in a real and candid way about our own sense of belonging along with our relationships with the Nisenan people and this beautiful region that the Nisenan have called “home” for thousands of years.

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On Friendship and BELONGING

February 21, 2018May 1, 2022by Ruth Chase

The BELONGING project is a journey I’m taking with the community of Nevada County. Every week I ask a question on Facebook that explores how we find a sense of belonging. Here is the question I asked most recently.

How do the friendships you had growing up shape your sense of belonging now?

Growing up I felt an incredible pain from feeling like I didn’t belong in my own home while I dreamed of belonging where I wasn’t wanted, with my dad. My dad and I shared the same looks and big personality, I felt comfortable with him because we were alike. As a child my friendships often reflected these same family dynamics, feeling like an outcast in friendships that I perceived I didn’t belong in because I wasn’t enough. Further making me feel incredibly insecure about if I would ever belonging with anyone, anywhere. I think that is why I cried so much on my wedding day, someone wanted me to “belong” with them. To this day I rarely feel like I fit in with most people so I cherish the relationships where I do feel a sense of belonging. After many years of rejection from the art world, I have come to realize that none of it is personal and that I belong to myself first and foremost.

Ruth Chase and Marla in Venice, CA

So, how do the friendships you had growing up shape your sense of belonging now?

I BELONG HERE Pop Up

February 1, 2018January 7, 2020by Ruth ChaseLeave a comment

2017 ongoing

A pop-up installation where Ruth asks people if they want a hug and if she can take an instant photo of passers-byes, then encouraging them to hang the photo where it could be seen as a reminder of their importance and value to their community. The backdrop is a pop up photo booth intended to be a personal encounter with another human, changing the roll of the selfie from an isolated “look at me” photo to a visceral experience that involved contact and purpose.

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