Rossi Bright knows she was destined to be an artist. She knew when she was a child growing up in the Midwest. And she credits her parents who she says were good about taking her to art museums.

“It just seemed to be a natural instinct I had,” she said. “My head seemed to have an imagination for such things.”

With no specific category, time frame, nor explanation, and sometimes she likes to throw in a title or two to describe her artwork, Bright opened up about the process of how she develops her work as a stream of consciousness.

“I just do it because I have to do it,” she said. “I just kind of do whatever is coming through to me at any given time. Being a clear...

PARK CITY, UTAH – The Sundance Institute announced at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival that four budding Native American filmmakers have been selected for Full Circle Fellowships. The Full Circle program develops and supports young emerging native filmmakers and is part of the Native Institute’s year-round support of offerings for Native artists.

N. Bird Runningwater, the director of the Sundance Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program, said: Through the Full Circle Fellowship we build on our long-standing mentorship and support for three generations of Native filmmakers by focusing on the emerging fourth generation and ensuring these young artists have the tools and...

Chinle’s Tatanka Means headlines new Feb. 16 documentary

CHINLE – As an actor, entertainer and clothing entrepreneur, Tatanka Means has performed everything from comedy, to dramas, to documentaries. But he insists that he doesn’t go out looking for film or stage roles.

“I have several manager and agents who look for roles for me,” Means told the Gallup Sun Feb. 10. “We are all on the same page about what type of roles I want to play and how I want to portray my people. “We pass on a lot of things that would put Native people in a negative light.”

Means, son of the late acclaimed Native American actor Russell Means, plays the leading role in a new movie, “Saints and...

PARK CITY, UTAH – Anna Tsouhlarakis, who is of Navajo and Greek descent, was recently selected for an artist fellowship by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, which is based in Portland, Ore. The honor was announced at the beginning of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Liz Hill, who handles public relations for the festival, said Tsouhlarakis was one of 13 native artists picked for the honor, which comes with a $10,000 financial component.

“For the fifth year, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation awarded its distinguished National Artist Fellowships to a new group of talented, recognizable and promising artists,” Hill said. “Thirteen awardees were selected from a...