Óódááł | Everyone Moving Forward
by Marina Eskeets
In winter 2019, gallupARTS collaborated with the Gallup MainStreet Arts & Cultural District to produce an open call for the first in a series of alleyway mural projects. Diné artist Marina Eskeets is currently creating an autobiographical storytelling mural that touches on issues of cultural identity and environmental justice in the alleyway on the Council of Governments' building between 1st and 2nd Streets and Coal and Aztec Avenues in downtown Gallup.
Marina Eskeets is a Diné (Navajo) conceptual artist from Naná’áztiin, New Mexico (The Big Curve, NM, Navajo Reservation). Eskeets received a Bachelors in Fine Arts, with a major in Studio Arts at Santa Fe University of Art and design. Her work is stimulated from her childhood herding her grandmothers’ sheep, in a region directly affected by a uranium disaster. Unrestricted to any medium, she allows her ideas to be presented in the most appropriate technique.
Artist Statement: Óódááł | Everyone Moving Forward is a colorful depiction of two young Diné girls walking behind a flock of sheep. They blow bubbles with their gum and wave their hands in the air to keep the herd moving. They walk past a twisted cedar tree with geometric patterns framing them. In the far background are four wind turbines, mimicking a corn field. Blue gramma grass grows at their feet. The color pallet for this mural accentuates the local landscape and vegetation.
Local Stories: Listen to the stories here:https://soundcloud.com/gallupmainstreet/sheep-stories
This project was organized by Gallup MainStreet Arts & Cultural District, with special thanks to and help from: Galluparts, Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments, Miyamura High School students who worked with Marina, Marina’s family who spent many cold days helping her paint, and all of the community members who shared their stories and stopped to chat with the artist. Funded by New Mexico Resiliency Alliance Resilient Communities Grant.
Artist Statement: Óódááł | Everyone Moving Forward is a colorful depiction of two young Diné girls walking behind a flock of sheep. They blow bubbles with their gum and wave their hands in the air to keep the herd moving. They walk past a twisted cedar tree with geometric patterns framing them. In the far background are four wind turbines, mimicking a corn field. Blue gramma grass grows at their feet. The color pallet for this mural accentuates the local landscape and vegetation.
Local Stories: Listen to the stories here:https://soundcloud.com/gallupmainstreet/sheep-stories
This project was organized by Gallup MainStreet Arts & Cultural District, with special thanks to and help from: Galluparts, Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments, Miyamura High School students who worked with Marina, Marina’s family who spent many cold days helping her paint, and all of the community members who shared their stories and stopped to chat with the artist. Funded by New Mexico Resiliency Alliance Resilient Communities Grant.
Broader Alleyway Project. This project is part of a broader alleyway upgrade program of the City of Gallup to make unappealing alleyways into pedestrian corridors to create a vibrant downtown. Here is a conceptual drawing of the before and after.
