Tribal college student Gregory Ballenger travelled to Washington, DC where he presented his artwork as part of Native American Heritage Month.

Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) student Gregory Ballenger (Diné) was selected to participate in the Congressional Exhibition Project’s second Native American art reception, a celebration in honor of Native American Heritage Month. As part of the program, Ballenger attended the reception and display of his artwork on November 14, 2018, in Washington, DC at the Dirksen Senate Office Building. During the reception, emerging artists Ballinger and high school student Quanshai Abeyta (Diné) discussed their artistic vision while explaining how their artworks reflect the project’s theme, entitled, “Native American Dream.”

Ballenger is a studio arts major at IAIA. His piece, entitled Fill the Void, is a boundary-pushing aesthetic statement for the promotion of unity between Indigenous and politically charged spaces. Ballenger depicts the Native plight while examining the ever-present sociological and constitutional incision that has hindered the progression of Indigenous cultural sovereignty since the settler-colonial era. “My dream is to create a life that is completely liberated from colonial violence and oppression,” says Ballenger. “I use art to fill the philosophical void created by Western thought and reasoning.” 

New Mexico’s senior U.S. senator and longtime IAIA supporter, Tom Udall, was an honorary host for the reception. Senator Udall has been a catalyst for the progression of Native people and is currently the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. At the event, Congressman Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, a member of the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs and avid advocate for Native American suicide prevention, addressed the attendees.

During the reception, Ballenger introduced a special video installation that was created in collaboration with other students who attend IAIA and the Institute of Sainte-Marie in Brussels, Belgium. This creative collaboration was administered through a program called “Digital Natives” and is facilitated by the Bozar Center for Fine Arts in Brussels. Digital Natives is an international art-making exchange that connects Native American students and Belgian migrant students for the purpose of examining culture, identity, and displacement. Collaborating artists in the program this year are Ballenger, Michael Begay (Navajo/Santo Domingo Pueblo), Melverna Aguilar (Santa Domingo Pueblo), Maddie Lamb (Muscogee Creek), Delaney Keshena (Menominee), Jaida Grey Eagle (Oglala Sioux), Ufitinema Birekeraho (Mongo and Ngombe clans of the Kinshasa-bangala tribe [Congo]), and Arlette Birekeraho (Hutu tribe [Rwanda]). 

The goal of the Congressional Exhibition Project is to demonstrate how visual art and policy can work hand-in-hand. This presentation debuted a talented group of young Indigenous artists. In addition, over 20 artists’ work will be displayed in the Russell Senate Building Rotunda in Washington, DC beginning November 27, 2018.