tasting notes with
Andrea R. Hanley.
occupation
Membership and Program Manager at IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.
venue
Geronimo, Santa Fe.
drinking
“Mayor’s Martini” (dry martini with olives stuffed with blue cheese).
recommended food pairing
A really good steak with really great mashed potatoes… maybe a blue cheese wedge salad.
film/art/music pairing recommendation
Something big, something old-school, something sexy would go well.
current mood
Happy that it is 2019, looking forward to exciting projects, meeting new people, learning, enjoying myself, hopefully a date!.
one thing you want to see happen in 2019
Peace, love, and understanding. Doing the best work I can do, being more focused, and continuing the work I’ve been doing to expose people who aren’t familiar with contemporary native art to how good it is, how important it is, how relevant it is to issues of policy, self-determination, and the land—issues everyone can relate to. These times are personifying how important it is to show native art today. What you see at MoCNA is important not only to the native art field but the contemporary art field as well. It connects people in a way they haven’t been before. The work I do tries to create a conduit between things that are important to all of us.
what is the biggest challenge you face this year?
To be really happy with my decisions. To work for the greater good.
what is most rewarding for you about your work at MoCNA?
Having a great director that says yes rather than no. Having the opportunity to be thoughtful, and the flexibility to be really creative in how we present ideas and really dig deep.
what was your first job?
I started modeling when I was 15.
what did it teach you?
That anything is possible. Being young, you’re too young to know better.
one thing you enjoyed about jurying The Magazine’s call for artists for this issue
I enjoyed everything. It was inspiring to see the wide diversity of work in New Mexico. It’s important to know that not everyone who submitted could be in this issue. It was hard to make decisions because there were so many amazing artists. It’s fun to sit down and look at and think about work critically and thoughtfully.
what guides your jurying process, in three steps
1. Being able to recognize someone who is interesting, talented, and speaking to a narrative or idea throughout their practice.
2. Checking myself, so that I’m not always looking for someone who is super-experienced or has a great resume.
3. Identifying an artist who is genuinely excited about the process and their own work.
what comes next?
For me, it’s always trying to do something that is personally important or relevant. Being a Navajo, I want people to understand that reality. In the programs I do, whether they be about international policy, or the self determination of Native people, or the exhibitions I curate, they all support and reflect both contemporary issues and core tribal values. I want people to be aware that there are Indigenous people all over the world, and what is important to them. Using my own imagination, metaphor, and connecting with multiple narratives is how I try to achieve that.
