The Cheyenne River Youth Project® has announced that its RedCan graffiti jam is one of just 10 finalists for the prestigious Robert E. Gard Award this year. This award, which celebrates exemplary work at the intersection of the arts and community life, is one of seven national awards given out each year by Americans for the Arts.
“We’re honored that our RedCan graffiti jam is being considered for this award,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “We launched RedCan in 2015 as a way to expose our young people and our entire community to the world of graffiti and street art, and to provide them with new tools to explore their identity, share their stories, find their unique voice and pursue healing. We couldn’t have known how deeply this merging of Lakota culture and graffiti culture would resonate, nor how the event would grow in just two short years.”
Americans for the Arts received a record 80 submissions this year, which were adjucated by a three-person panel. Panelists included DeNichols, artist and activist from St. Louis; Tariana Navas-Nieves, director of cultural affairs for the city of Denver; and Maryo Gard Ewell, art historian and editor of “To Change the Face & Heart of America,” from Gunnison, Colorado.
Members of Americans for the Arts are currently voting for the winner at http://www.americansforthearts.org/gardaward. Voting is restricted to organizational member beneficiaries and individual members at the $75 level or higher. Members must log in to their accounts to vote. For more information about membership and voting, send e-mail to membership@artsusa.org.
Voting will close on Monday, May 1, and the winner will be announced to the public live at the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention on Saturday, June 17.
The nonprofit youth organization is currently preparing for its third annual RedCan event, which is scheduled for June 28-July 1 at CRYP’s free, public Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Art Park and at various community sites throughout its hometown of Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Updated information about 2017 RedCan will be available in the next couple of weeks at www.lakotayouth.org/redcan.
To stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, follow the youth project on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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.