Tag: Nevada County

hu·tum kʉle

Posted on by

hu·tum kʉle is an interdisciplinary work combining painting and video as two interconnected parts of the same experience. Together, they explore dreaming as a source of guidance, healing, memory, and spiritual knowledge within Nisenan culture.

“In our culture, we are dreamers, where we learn new languages, and new things through our dreams.”

— Saxon Thomas, Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Council, Member at Large

Developed through dialogue with Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Members, the work reflects stories and shared understandings of dreams as a place where knowledge, warnings, language, and connection can emerge.

The Dreamers Show Us The Path
acrylic, wax on canvas, 24 x 24
Created for HUSWEJ Collection

‘Uba Seo: Nisenan Arts & Culture
225 Broad Street
Nevada City, CA 95959

The painting depicts two hovering figures above ˀuƀa seo (Yuba River), with ˀestom janim (Marysville Buttes), the Ancestral Homelands of the Nisenan, in the distance. The darker figure suggests the Creator, spirit presence, or contact with the dream world, while the lighter outlined figure — drawn from a photograph of Lorena Davis — represents the dreamer.

Surrounding herbs reference the role of the dreamer, sometimes called the “Knock Down Person,” who returns from dreams carrying knowledge that could help the Tribe: healing plants, migration guidance, or warnings of danger.

“I was once visited by my late husband, John, who came to me in a dream to share a very important part of my future that helped me at a difficult time in my life.”

— Lorena Davis, Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Council

The video expands the work through the voices and presence of Tribal Members, creating a living dialogue between landscape, memory, dreams, and image. Rather than functioning separately, the painting and video inform one another — each revealing dimensions of the other that cannot exist alone.

“I believe that we are visited through our dreams.”

— Cindy Buero, Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Member

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NEVADA CITY NISENAN

Eight months with California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project

Posted on by


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

Posted on by

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

Ruth Chase is a multimedia artist whose work speaks to the value of people to their community—working with themes of belonging, visibility, and what it means to be a human. Ruth is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute whose artistic practice is inquiry-based and engages community bridge-building. She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles for Art in Action and a grant to an individual artist from the Carl Jacobs Foundation. She was granted a residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts in NY, published in Professional Artist Magazine, Catapult Art Magazine, and Huffington Post, and has taught at the Crocker Art Museum. Ruth was a featured artist on the Dead Files TV program and was awarded an Artist in Residence at Nevada County Arts for Artist Activating Communities through a grant from the California Arts Council for three consecutive years. Her film BELONGING screened at the 18th Annual Nevada City Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Ruth received the Legendary Female Artist of Venice, exhibited in The Crocker Kingsley, the Museum of Northern California Art, and the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Ruth Chase, BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between
She Remembers Everything, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60″
I Am Many Things At Once, acrylic on canvas, 54 x 50″, 2021
With, Without, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48″
A collaboration with Luciano Mota


exhibition book

Center for The Arts | The Granucci Gallery
314 W. Main St., Grass Valley, CA
Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 5 PM
No appointment required

Ruth Chase
BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between
August 6 — September 11, 2021

The Granucci Gallery is excited to present BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between, the gallery’s first solo exhibition of artist Ruth Chase’s work. On view from August 6 – September 11, 2021, this exhibition consists of portraits and figurative paintings, video, an art film, and a public engagement piece. The show is a collaboration between Ruth and more than sixty volunteer participants. There will be a public reception from 5-7 pm on Friday, August 20.

Ruth’s work is fueled by collaboration. Using video and paint, Ruth challenges traditional roles prescribed by society, exploring feminine and masculine traits that embody all genders rather than being defined by one’s outward appearance. The work presents contrasting viewpoints, encouraging the viewer to come to their own conclusions. The exhibition is a gaze into a broader experience of being human and ever-evolving.

Motherhood opened a world within Ruth, both painful and empowering, inspiring her to depict on canvas the complexity of the mother/daughter relationship. Experiencing her daughter’s adolescence awakened memories within her, causing a deep reflection on how our childhood shapes us as women and the role vulnerability plays in our development. Her studio paintings capture fragile moments taken from her daughter’s selfies. Other paintings in the show come from images sent in by men and women looking at the masculine-feminine spectrum.

Because collaboration is essential to her work, Ruth began conversing with people on Zoom to generate a sense of community and escape the isolation of 2020. Thirty conversations took place over a year; Ruth spoke with people worldwide who shared their insights on many topics beyond the initial question of what it means to be a woman. The conversations encompassed health issues unique to women, feminine empowerment, insecurities, teen pregnancy, motherhood, and balancing masculine and feminine energies. Often the conversation gravitated to gender and sexual identity, challenging cultural norms, and working around rigid stereotypes.

Ruth presents her subject matter in an accessible exhibition that is neither definitive nor a statement about feminism but rather a glance into the lives of everyday people and their thoughts and feelings about women.

Ruth paints in acrylic on canvas, blurring the lines with drips and intersecting patterns, shapes and edges. Gray is a dominant color to represent gender neutrality, allowing the viewer to bring more of themselves to the work without being drawn into commercial stereotypes of the feminine. The paintings are created by layering several thin washes of color to impart a sense of history, experience, and emotional complexity.

Her video work informs the paintings and delivers a broader perspective. The art film is a collage of moments that allow the viewer to connect with unlikely perspectives, finding a sense of belonging with someone they may see as “other.”

Participants include Michelle Amador, Eileen Bryant Archibald, Karla Kaizoji Austin, Be Boggs, Adrienne Boudreaux, Catharine Bramkamp, Adrian Card, Mira Clark, Brooke Condon, Colleen Graham, Brynn Farwell, Elma Jella’, Beatriz E. Ledesma, Gabi Markham, Chandra Merod, Luciano Mota, Nona, Michelle Litton Ogaidi, Rey Otis, Cassie Robertson, Steve Roddy, Aqueila M. Lewis-Ross, Shōkai Sinclair, Kim Stewart, Dana Divird Stevens, Valerie Hiestand Stuart, Andie Thrams, Tia Tuenge, Casey Louis Travis, Melody Be Watson, Nicole Weaver, Jen Rhi Winders, and Carolyn Crist Wright.

Contact Ruth
RuthChaseFineArt@gmail.com
530-409-2330