FULL CIRCLE: JOURNEY TO WALKER ART CENTER

By Aabawaagiizhigookwe, Toya Stewart

Sierra (Ikwe) Edwards had no way of knowing that a chance encounter with a friend at a Prairie Island Wacipi would bring her an opportunity to make art, learn how to loom bead and work with contemporary multidisciplinary Native artist, Dyani White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota).

What came next for Edwards was a beautiful collision of her personal and professional life coming into alignment in a spectacular way. In October, the Walker Art Center debuted its exhibition of White Hawk's work, called Love Language, in three of its galleries.

The exhibit features 15 years of the artist's work and includes paintings, sculpture, video and on one of the stunning pieces of art, known as Visiting Il, Edwards's work is featured. Edwards works at the Walker Art Center and serves as the community engagement coordinator on the public engagement team. She's been in her role just over a year and her work revolves around "ideating and implementing free community-based programs."

The backstory of how Edwards got involved with White Hawk's work goes back to that fateful meeting with her friend, Abel Martinez, at the 2024 Wacipi.

"I found out that Abel, his mom, and his sister were all beadworkers in Dyani's studio. Abel asked me if I knew how to bead and if I was looking for work. I just so happened to fit both categories," said Edwards. "At the time, Dyani and everyone working in her studio was frantically trying to finish the first "crazy quilt" pillar, now known as Visiting."

As Edwards described it, the team needed extra hands to help support the "tucking in" of the sinew threads into the loom-beaded strips.

"This was my first experience with Dyani and the beautiful, deeply communal atmosphere that is her studio. Even though it was a busy time, it was so much fun to be in the studio — and to get paid to work with beads was a dream!"

After the first pillar was complete, Edwards and a few others were invited to continue working in the studio to contribute to a second, taller pillar, Visiting II.

There she learned how to loom-bead, taught by White Hawk's sister-in-law, Hooni, and that's where she made her first pieces of loomed beadwork. Susan Beaulieu (Red Lake) Edwards' mom taught her how to do flat stitch beadwork years ago and learning how to loom had been a technique that Edwards had always wanted to learn.

"To be taught in such an incredible place, supported by such incredible people — I am truly grateful," said Edwards. "You can find one of my strips — a geometric, bugle-bead interpretation of woodland strawberries — towards the top of Visiting II." White Hawk says, "Love Language speaks to the Lakota artistic practices that represent love for family, community, the land and life. The exhibition is an embodied love letter to our ancestors, our communities, family and the people all of humanity."

"It is also a calling, emphasizing the need for museums, institutions, governments, communities, and individuals to actively work to see, honor, nurture and celebrate Indigenous people, cultures, communities, and contributions to our collective histories and our present lives."

Edwards said her experience as both an artist who contributed to White Hawk's work and as a staff member at the Walker has been important to her in many ways. Edwards and her colleagues have been leading the formation of event programs relating to Love Language, while being guided by the hopes, goals, and dreams of White Hawk.

"We have worked hard to create moments of engagement with this exhibition. Dyani has been vocal from the start that she sees this exhibition as an important opportunity to heal deep wounds between the local urban Native community and the Walker."

Edwards is referencing a painful and sobering incident in the Walker's history when in 2017, "the institution caused significant harm to the local urban Native community with the erection of Sam Durant's "Scaffold" sculpture."

For many local Dakota and broader Native audiences, the sculpture served as an aggressive and painful reminder of the Minnesota-based largest mass hanging in U.S. history-the Dakota 38+2. Later, that same year, the Walker platformed artist Jimmie Durham with a solo exhibition. Durham, who during his life claimed to be Cherokee and made much art related to being "Native" was never claimed by any of the three Cherokee Nations.

However, since these moments of institutional harm, there have been ongoing moments of listening, reflection, and growth by the Walker, Edwards said.

"The way the museum has approached Love Language has been a reflection of this growth. And so, it has been with great intention and care that my team and I have approached this show and related programs."

Throughout the run of Dyani's exhibition, the public engagement team will host free events both at the Walker and out in the community. From art-making workshops to guest artist conversations to community-led tours, there will be many programs to enjoy during Dyani White Hawk: Love Language.

"I deeply admire, respect, and care for Dyani," said Edwards. "Though her artistic skill and vision are of course remarkable, I believe it is her dedication to her family and community that really makes her such an incredible individual."

"I am very grateful to know her and to have had these opportunities to work with her — both as a studio beadworker and as a Walker employee."