DoPiKa: A Land Acknowledgement Art by Indigenous People

"Power and Place," Robert Hicks, digital photography

Explore art and culture of the Indigenous people and artists who made and continue to make Topeka and Shawnee County their home during DoPiKa: A Land Acknowledgement exhibit in the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery September 8 - November 26, 2023, at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. This exhibit is a collaboration with Lisa LaRue-Baker, Cherokee tribal citizen and Gallerist of 785 Arts.

DoPiKa will acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of Shawnee County: the Osage, Kaw, Delaware, Potawatomi, Shawnee and Wyandotte nations. Many tribes have cultivated the land, built homes, named the flora and fauna, and were forcibly moved to and away from Shawnee County. Often the history of Topeka and Shawnee County leaves out the many Nations that have called this land home.

DoPiKa will include art in a variety of mediums and styles. Explore abstract paintings, mixed-media fiber art, photography, contemporary paintings, jewelry, sound art, digital art, beadwork and textiles from the following artists:

• Joe Don Brave (Osage) painting

• Lydia Cheshewalla (Osage) digital art

• Michael Daugherty (Eastern Shawnee) painting

• Gayle Dowell (Osage) jewelry

• Benjamin Harjo Jr. (Absentee Shawnee/Seminole) painting

• Robert Hicks (Pyramid Lake Paiute) digital photography

• Joan Hill (Creek-Cherokee) painting

• Lisa LaRue-Baker (Cherokee Nation) mixed media

• America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) painting

• Wendy Ponca (Osage) textile and painting

• Konrad Pumpkin Seed (Oglala Lakota Sioux) mixed media

• Emily Westfall (Citizen Potawatomi) painting

Everyone is invited to an opening reception Friday, September 8, 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery.