Small Space, Giant Impact

In times of crisis, my historical trauma is triggered, and my response is to leap into action. On January 8th, I woke up and thought, “I need to get to the gallery. I need to open up the space for the people.” This came a day after our city witnessed the shocking death of Renee Good. A fear that we had all carried came to be a reality. ICE agents killed an observer. This could have been any one of us. 

As a community comprised of brown-skinned people, I knew that we needed a safe space for our protectors, observers, and volunteers. We were in between exhibitions at All My Relations gallery, and I immediately made the decision to turn the space over to serve the needs of the community. 

In 2020, the gallery had become a temporary food shelf, and so there was a familiarity with the decision, need, and location. What is it about Pow Wow Grounds, NACDI, and the All My Relations Arts gallery that calls the community to convene in our space when in crisis? We are not that big. Other buildings on the Avenue are larger and could accommodate more people, but as we witnessed in 2020, there is something about our tiny yellow building on Franklin Avenue that draws people to this place. Maybe it’s the coffee, maybe it’s the art that invokes identity and belonging, maybe it’s the friendly relatives that always seem to be visiting inside, maybe it’s a magic that we can’t quite put our finger on, but rather than resist it, we embrace being a desired gathering space and have adapted by pivoting our operations to serve the community. It’s a collaborative response between Pow Wow Grounds and NACDI. 

I’ve always seen the gallery as a space that belongs to the community. It represents our shared identity as Native people, and the art reflects the people, our culture, our languages, our stories, and our identities. The art, created by contemporary Native artists, creates an energy in the space, and I believe that energy lingers. While the gallery currently holds supplies needed for observers and volunteers, there is a shared sense of belonging that permeates the space. It says, you are my relative, I am your relative, we are in this together, we are going to take care of each other, we are going to protect each other, we are going to get through this. 

Mitakuye Oyasin.

Angela Two Stars