Residents of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, Eagle Butte visitors and members of the media are all invited to the Cheyenne River Youth Project® on July 6-9 for its 2nd annual RedCan graffiti jam. This year’s eagerly anticipated event includes new headliners, returning favorites, a teen art exhibition, live music that includes a Supaman concert, and a visit with the northern Peace & Dignity Journeys runners as they race to Panama to meet their southern counterparts.
“At RedCan, Lakota artists and youth paint alongside some of the most acclaimed graffiti artists in the country, and indeed, the world,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “It’s a celebration of art, music, positive self-expression, exploration of identity and cultural storytelling, and it’s simply revolutionary. Especially in Indian Country.”
RedCan will kick off on Wednesday, July 6 with an opening reception for the Art Internship Cohort II & III Exhibition at CRYP’s Cokata Wiconi (Center of Life) teen center from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The reception will incorporate a 6 p.m. honoring ceremony for the teen interns, whose work will remain on display through Saturday, July 9.
Also on Wednesday, the Peace & Dignity Journeys runners will arrive to spend the night on the Cheyenne River reservation. The run, which embodies the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, takes place every four years. Native runners begin on opposite ends of North and South America and meet at the Kuna Nation in Panama City, Panama, which symbolizes the joining together of all indigenous peoples.
Each of RedCan’s three painting days will commence with a drum song and blessing at 8:30 a.m. in the Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Art Park. Then, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the featured artists will be hard at work in the art park and at various sites around the Eagle Butte community. New headliners include Scribe, from Kansas City, Missouri; Serval, from Switzerland; and Cyfi, from Minnesota’s Twin Cities. They will join returning artists East, from Denver; Kazilla, from Miami; and Biafra Inc., Daesk and Wundr, all from the Twin Cities. The public is welcome to watch the artists at work.
On Thursday, July 7, RedCan attendees also will enjoy an adult traditional dance exhibition, Scribe’s “Rolling Rez” art classes, youth painting with stencils and spray chalk, and a Graffiti Color Run. On Friday, July 8, CRYP will host a “Dakota Dreamers” book signing, Biafra’s “Rolling Rez” art classes, a youth traditional dance exhibition, the Spoken Word Youth Group, and Midnight Basketball for teens from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Finally, on Saturday, July 9, Wundr will hold his “Rolling Rez” art classes, CRYP will host a community feed from 5:30 to 7 p.m., and Supaman—an Apsáalooke rapper and champion fancy dancer from Montana’s Crow Nation Reservation, who recently was named MTV’s Artist of the Week—will perform from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Each day, guests also may enjoy tunes from DJ Micah Prairie Chicken, freshly prepared meals at CRYP’s Keya (Turtle) Cafe, and a 9 p.m. bonfire in the Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park.
For a peek at what you can expect at this year’s RedCan graffiti jam, check out the trailer for the 2016 RedCan event, as well as a 12-minute documentary from 2015. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, follow the youth project on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.