In early March, Indigenous artist Danielle SeeWalker posted a new painting to her Instagram: A woman in profile, her face grayed out except one eye staring directly at the viewer — a signature of SeeWalker’s painted works. The woman is wearing a keffiyeh, the black-and-white scarf worn to signal support of Palestine, with a feather by her ear and a bright red braid.
Reactions to the painting were overwhelmingly positive, “I’m so grateful to know you and your work,” one person wrote. Hands clapping and watermelon emojis, a symbol of Palestinian support, dotted the comment section. She later created 60 prints of the painting, titled “G is for Genocide,” and sold them to raise money for the UN Crisis Relief Fund.
But in early May, that same painting stripped her opportunity to spend part of her summer as Vail’s artist in residence.
Vail has been inching toward an artist in residence program for over two decades, and finally took a major stride last year bringing Washington-based artist Squire Broel to the town for a pilot program. In January, the town contacted SeeWalker, a Denver-based Lakota artist whose work across mediums reflects her experiences as an Indigenous woman in contemporary America. They wanted her as their second artist in residence.
“They had a robust program with a stipend, studio, community engagement opportunities,” SeeWalker said. “I was really excited about it. I was really excited, as a person of color, to bring my art to a place that is … ” she paused. “Not really known for its diversity.”
And Vail was excited too. “We had a sincere interest in her art and her passion around Native Americans,” Vail town manager Russell Forrest said Thursday in an interview. In February, SeeWalker opened an exhibition with History Colorado that pairs historic Native American artifacts with contemporary artworks.
SeeWalker worked with Vail’s Art in Public Places program to develop a residency that would include a mural at the Vail Village parking structure, a photography exhibit from her Red Road Project and a moderated discussion at the Vail Symposium, a nonprofit independent of the town that provides educational programming.
The city posted an announcement about her residency on May 6, a month before she was scheduled to move in. Then the town started to receive emails.
“We started getting messages from individuals looking closely at her social media posts,” Forrest said. “The concern was around the very polarizing issue in Israel and Gaza right now. We didn’t want public funds connected to a project about a polarizing geopolitical issue that is still playing out.”’
Discourse around Palestine since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has become increasingly fraught. Political conflict has erupted in the statehouse, city council chambers and college campuses.
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SeeWalker hadn’t submitted a proposal for her project. The town had no way of knowing what the mural would be. But Art in Public Places wasn’t willing to wait and see.
“The messaging had already occurred. The post and the reaction had occurred,” Forrest said.
Three days after the news release hit the town’s website, it was removed and replaced with a statement, emphasizing the fact that her art had turned from focusing on Native Americans to the crisis in Gaza.
“I tried to explain my position, tried to understand more about the community’s concerns, but they just talked over me and ended the call,” SeeWalker said. The call lasted “a minute and a half, tops. And that was probably the most disappointing part of the whole thing,” she said. “The disrespect.”
SeeWalker said she painted “G is for Genocide” in recognition of the parallels between the plight of Native Americans in the U.S. and the crisis in Gaza.
“It’s about erasing a culture, about taking land. Me as an Indigenous person, this is what happened to my ancestors,” SeeWalker said. “The piece is not about taking sides, it’s about humanity, it’s about not destroying a culture and letting people live.”
But she never had a chance to explain that, nor will she. The whole experience has soured her to the residency in Vail. “I was just blindsided. No chance to understand or explain. After that, even if they wanted to offer me a residency, I wouldn’t take it.”