Christopher Columbus Arrival - 500 Nations - Native American - Part 1

As part of my research, i'll be watching this documentary produced by Kevin Costner. Feel free to comment and watch the first few minutes of it... pretty educational.

Step 1a: Locating Magazine References

So as I have mentioned before, the way I saw my project evolving, and perhaps reaching a broader audience was using other media outlets. For example, I thought a good medium to reach broader audiences was through a print magazine. I've scanned certain pages of these magazines so you guys could understand what is the type of content I feel would be interesting to my target audience and its readers.

Ecuador Infinito is a nationally published magazine in my country, and talks about the "undiscovered wonders" in modern day Ecuador, such as places to visit, historical places, visual artists, crafters, and other valuable information for Ecuadorians. This magazine also has a section that comes out in every issue, its a section on Native Indigenous people which talks about our traditions, history, customs, current environmental issues and other current news. The first time I came across this magazine after some research I thought "It would be great to have a magazine with this type of content, but one that exclusively talked about all and any of the Natives in modern America, Natives that still live countries like Canada, the United States,  Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Venezuela, Brazil etc."

INDIAN (By the Museum of the American Indian) goes along this line, and writes about different Natives across the Americas. But I believe its only a NYC magazine, what would happen if a magazine that had my ideas be available in different countries? Such as the National Geographic magazine? Which is published in languages such as English and Spanish? People may have an interest about reading and learning about the Natives in their own individual countries. Therefore learning a little bit more in general about the First Nations (possible magazine title) of the Americas. 

NICOLE KLAGSBRUN PROJECT Critique

The NICOLE KLAGSBRUN PROJECT was probably the show that was most extensively talked about in our last class meeting. Therefore, I will reflect upon what was mentioned before and say that the overall opinion of such show seemed to be perceived as "Cheesy". As a whole I think most of the audience including the class were initially entertained with the variety of apparatuses exhibited in the gallery. The environment of creating a "Spa" feeling, the pedaling bikes, the "steam" room, and the scientific machine all contributed to create an unexpected setting. 
What I personally found interesting was to analyze and figure out what the entire process and purpose of the exhibit was. By the end, the audience could figure out that all these mechanisms were related to each other, or were connected through time & a virtual space that was created by the video and the live presentation. However, by the end of the presentation the majority of the class was not convinced of the projects artists intellect.

The Evolution of "Welcome to Native America" Draft 3

This is the third revised draft of my thesis statement for my project, this is an idea I have to put out there to see how well it is received, and will it be plausible. My idea was to reach people with three different media outlets;  Map (in educational environments, perhaps high schools), Magazine (I got references from magazines such as Ecuador Infinito or Museum of the American Indian, they have certain Native people current events), Website (If people are interested into learning even more, this would be the place to go)

The  “Welcome to Native America” project will act as an educational tool that could use three forms of media to reach different audiences and help increase recognition of  Native American people in modern day America. In the hopes to one day help petition for a nationally recognized Indigenous Holiday.

Main Concerns

The main questions that I have been trying to answer were brought up by fellow class mates that have left comments on my blog throughout the development of this project. For example there was a particular question that asked how would the project get people interested in these stories, history, tribes, and culture if they were outside of the Native American community? What outlets would I sue to reach them?

The project of "Welcome to Native America"started with the idea of a map, its a typography exercise names many Native tribes since 1492. The question I asked myself was how could this project grow from the first step of making a map?

I would like to reach more people, through different mediums and environments. The people that come across the map so far are only through the visits of a retail store located in the Palisades Mall. After meeting Prof. Thomas O'Reilley in person, he suggested this map would benefit greatly in educational environments, such as elementary schools. After discussing with Prof. Moderegger about this idea, he asked the question of whether it would become even more beneficial to display a map like mine in high schools, since it is here where young adults begin to develop a more conscious state of intellect. Whether its in an elementary or higher educational environment, the idea of having maps like mine in public schools would be of a great achievement for me. 

But what happens when these students, teachers or other people that come across a map like mine, want to learn more in depth about individual tribes or Native American nations? That is where the idea of having a website will come in handy. I visualize a website that has a user interface concentrated and designed around  my typographical map. If a website visitor wants to know about the Natives in his or her own individual country for example, he/she would click under the map shape of Guatemala, Surinam, Brazil, or Mexico and be taken to a page that gives the visitor information on images, history, culture, and most importantly if that Native tribe still exists today and current population. 

The Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian publishes a monthly magazine about Native people from across the Americas. Their idea is another media outlet that I think my project could benefit from. If someone who visits the website wishes to receive current news from Native people and their work, artistic merit, or other interesting topics, they may find that a magazine is a great source for this information. 

I could try to reach more people through these three outlets; a map, a website, and a magazine. This of course is just an idea, whether they make sense individually or a as a group is another topic of discussion. But as of now I see a project that could be explored through these outlets and reach more people in a more serious and meaningful way.

The Evolution of "Welcome to Native America" Draft 2

The class of Art 31511 have questioned  how the project of "Welcome to Native America" will continue to evolve aside from the initial execution of a map with the names of Native American nations on it. There have been questions on how the project will attract a bigger audience, and if the project and audience will mutually benefit if it were interactive either online or as an installation.
The valuable content and information may benefit tremendously by presenting them through three different mediums: the web, a magazine, and the poster. As part of my thinking process this is my 2nd draft in condensing my idea into a one sentence thesis concept.


“Welcome to Native America” is an educational project that uses multiple forms of media to increase the recognition of Native people, and honor the first indigenous nations of the Americas.

Visual Ideas and Concepts: The Question

These three photos display an idea I had in my head, this isn't part of the concrete project that is developing. These images are exploring merely a socio-political commentary, when I see them together I ask myself what is the audience understanding, what do they want to respond, where do they step in history with  these maps?

These images are a thought process for my own personal steps to come up with a new concept of an idea, looking for the "distinctly different" in regards to my other map. Trying to look for the answers of my greatest challenges:

• Take all this new information I'm always getting and filtering it to an audience
• Not dumbing down facts
• Combining several aspects of my research i.e. Time period, Geography, Cultural differences, Languages etc.