A native of Illiana (Illinois-Indiana) now residing in Denver, East graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine & Performing Arts in 1988. This classically trained scholarship recipient and teacher’s apprentice excelled in the arts of Intaglio printmaking and color theory. His love of technical lines and color spilled over into his passion for urban art, and East became a leading influence in the Illinois underground art scene and is a founder of Midwest graffiti styles. With more than 40 years’ experience, East continues to surge forward — through his consistency and perseverance, he has earned the title “Midwest Master.” East is the lead instructor for CRYP’s Waniyetu Wowapi Lakota Youth Arts & Culture Institute, and he continues to pursue his passion for letters and lettering styles.

Rock Martinez is an International Aerosol Artist, with over 20 years experience painting large surfaces, commercial buildings and private spaces. From commissions to relevant public tributes, Rock brings creative solutions to neighborhoods around the United States. Working across cultural boundaries of the challenges communities face today, Rock brightens city streets with his larger than life murals. His skills are known for pushing ideas to extremes and unlocking public art awareness. Rock is based in Minneapolis with studios in the Twin Cities and Tucson, AZ.

www.cyfiart.com

179 is a muralist and teaching artist in Seattle, and works with the community on public art projects and workshops. Her goal is to create safe and beautiful spaces for community members by engaging them in mindful installations. She loves working with youth and challenging their brilliant minds to think about their roles within the rapid growth of our city. Her work strives to engage the viewer to be a part of their environment through observation, critique, and participation. She believes community engagement is vital to successful art planning, and art should be accessible to all. Her focus is education and leading by example.

Hoka Skenandore is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin in addition to being Oglala Lakota, La Jolla Band of Luiseño and Chicano. He grew up in a home where he learned to appreciate traditional native art as well as fine art. On his own, he embraced the DIY ethos of punk rock and hip-hop culture, setting him on the path to becoming a style writer. He transitioned from painting graffiti to working on murals in the Albuquerque metro area in the late ’90s. He graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio arts in 2006, and later from the University of Oklahoma in 2020 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting. He is currently full-time faculty at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he teaches introductory Painting and Drawing courses.

Founding member of the world championship winning graffiti crew TMD (The Most Dedicated – 1996), Charles aka Phat1 has been a global leader in the urban contemporary art field for over 25 years. With roots in graffiti, his passion for endemic/native birdlife focuses on the connection of culture and the natural world with a strong focus on Māori/indigenous narratives & themes. His global influence within the street art genre has lead to numerous personal and group world titles throughout his career. A proud father of four and uncle to many alongside his wife Janine, together they have been full-time artists for the past 10 years, building a portfolio that includes working with some of the world’s biggest brands and being involved in countless festivals around the world.

Tammy Joy Granados is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, from the Itazipco and Hunkpapa bands of the Lakota/Dakota people, and she was born and raised in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. She currently resides in the community of LaPlant on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. She uses the name Tammy Joy Art for her professional work, and TamiJoy for her graffiti and street art.

Tammy’s expressionistic style is honed through years of experimenting with different mediums and styles — primarily acrylic paint, graffiti and street art, graphic art, and paper. She draws inspiration from cultural components and storytelling, as well as from subjects and objects that have great meaning to her.

Tammy has four young children who inspire her daily, and they often can be found in the pieces she creates. She credits her artistic knowledge to her late uncle, Leonard Granados; her pride in her uncle’s creations evolved into a motivation to learn and find an avenue for her own self-expression. She also attributes a great deal of her artistic growth to her years employed with the Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte; she learned a variety of artistic techniques and mediums alongside the young people she served.

Tammy sees her artistic development as a lifelong journey, one in which she is constantly fine-tuning her artistic vision and enhancing her skills and techniques. While she works primarily with acrylic on canvas, she also creates large-scale murals as a graffiti and street artist. On a smaller scale, she produces craft items and wood decor. She enjoys video creation as well as graphic arts; she creates logos, publicity pieces, holiday cards, T-shirt designs, and illustrations for children’s books and other publications. For several years, Tammy has participated as an accepted artist in the “Native POP: People of the Plains” art market, and she has consistently placed in CRST’s Labor Day Domestic and Lakota Arts Exhibit. In addition, her work has been displayed at the Journey Museum in Rapid City as well as at the Rapid City Public Library.

Natasha Martinez is Diné and Mexicá, and she grew up on the Navajo Nation Reservation in New Mexico. She has been doing graffiti for 18 years across the Southwest, and she enjoys teaching graffiti workshops in Native communities. As a graffiti writer, she is best known as Rezmo, which is short for Rezfunkmomma. “My work represents who I am and the women that inspire me, near and far,” she says. “I grew up with dual heritage, and often people judged me by the color of my skin and the way that I look, thinking I didn’t know anything about my cultures and traditions. In fact, I grew up in a very traditional Diné household. I found my voice and the acceptance of myself through my art, and through graffiti. My work has connected me to others who have felt the same way about themselves at one time or another. Art, to me, is a powerful way to communicate, and sometimes it’s the best way to show how I’m feeling.” Rezmo currently lives in the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona.

Biafra Inc. (pronounced bahy-ah-fruh or bee-ah-fruh) is an artist residing in the Twin Cities. He took his name in part from Jello Biafra from the band Dead Kennedys, the first band he got into that had content in their lyrics. His work is a visual retelling of stories that are apart of his life; much of it takes a critical look at “white” culture. Biafra is a multifaceted artist who uses a variety of mediums, including spray paint, screen printing, stencils, stickers and posters. As his work spreads across North America, he continues to work tirelessly to get his imagery out to the public.

“My work is a reflection of the culture around me. I retell stories that I have experienced or been told through my illustrations and large-scale murals.”

www.biafrainc.com

Brady Scott is a multifaceted artist based in the Midwest, weaving stories on walls through murals and lasting memories under skin as a tattoo artist. His inspiration stems from the wild beauty of nature and the haunting tales embedded in the American landscape.

www.bscottart.com

Wakinyan Maza is a local drumming group.

As world-renowned dancers, Lumhe and Samsoche Sampson (Mvskoke Creek/Seneca)—a.k.a. the Sampson Brothers— strive to promote cultural pride, unity, and hope by setting a positive example through art, education, and dance. They hope to give back to their tribe and the Indigenous community as a whole by breaking stereotypes and thus creating opportunities for generations to come. The Sampson Brothers aim to be successful artists, but also use that success to educate others while keeping their culture alive. With perseverance in modern times and tradition in tact, they bridge two worlds to provide positive inspiration as 21st century warriors.

Hoop dance has been the brothers’ passion and instrument of choice since they first learned as young boys. While the Powwow styles of Grass and Fancy dance were their origins when they began to walk, they were always encouraged to “never stop learning” and try more… that’s when they were introduced to and picked up their first hoops. At first, it was simply to inform and share with their peers at school assemblies, yet it quickly became a means of living, and ultimately, a way of life. More than 25 years later, they have since performed in more than half a dozen countries and at hundreds of universities, and they have educated thousands of individuals around the world about their culture and Indigenous Hoop Dancing.

The Wake Singers are an Oglala Lakota rock band based out of Mni Luzihan. Three cousins make up the core group; Douglas, Michael, and Reed Two Bulls. Douglas and Michael have been making music together since childhood, with Reed officially joining the group in 2018. With the incorporation of a multitude of genres, The Wake Singers showcase together beautiful and powerful songs.

Jackie Bird is a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribe of South Dakota and the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota, where she grew up entertaining. She sings, writes lyrics, dances, plays instruments, beads, and more. Jackie even created a puppet, Wild Flower, who assists her in her children’s shows. Her performances include upbeat messages about life, the opportunities that lay before us, and the power of positive thinking.