Alaskan artist creates true Indian petroglyphs
While more than 2,500 miles may separate Alaskan artist Nicholas Galanin from Northeast Ohio, one of his more creative projects would look right at home outside of Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland.
Galanin, a Tlingit-Aleut artist from Sitka, Alaska, and the recent recipient of a Rasmuson Fellowship from the United States Artists organization, works in a variety of mediums to create art that touches upon aspects of authority, authenticity, representation and the commoditization of Native American culture.
His work has taken him across the world as he earned degrees from the University of Alaska Southeast, Guildhall University in London, and Massey University in New Zealand. In addition to his artwork, he spends time as a lecturer and instructor and recently finished a term as the 2012 Audain Professor in Contemporary Arts of the Pacific Northwest at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.
Galanin tapped into his heritage in 2010 when he decided to create a series of Indian petroglyphs, similar to the design and symbols carved into volcanic rocks by American Indians and Spanish settlers between 400 and 700 years ago.
And it was his whimsical side that led him to use the Cleveland Indians script logo as the symbol and create something that would be familiar to Tribe fans everywhere.
For the rest of the story, head over to The Cleveland Fan.
(Photo courtesy of Nicholas Galanin)
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