water is life
“Water is Life” incorporates the importance of cultural preservation and preserving our sacred life source. Fawn Douglas (Las Vegas Paiute) and Avis Charley (Spirit Lake Dakota/Diné) translate the phrase Water is Life into their languages, Pa-Nuu Quith and Mni Wiconi. The Southern Paiute basket design is central to representing the original peoples of Las Vegas.
About Fawn Douglas
Fawn Douglas is a Native American artivist, mother, and enrolled member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. She also has roots with the Moapa Paiute, Southern Cheyenne, Creek, Pawnee, and Scottish. Fawn is the head matriarch of Nuwu Art and runs the Nuwu Art + Activism Studios along with the Nuwu Art Gallery + Community Center, located in the heart of Las Vegas, Nevada. She is dedicated to the intersections of art, activism, community, education, culture, identity, place, and sovereignty. Her art-making often remembers the past and ensures that stories of Indigenous peoples are heard in the present. Her studio practice includes drawing, painting, weaving, sculpture, and performance. Fawn currently does art and cultural consulting through Nuwu Art, organizes with the non-profit IndigenousAF, serves as an Arts Commissioner for the City of Las Vegas, and works part-time with Meow Wolf. She earned her MFA at UNLV and works on several issues that span from MMIR/MMIW to environmental protection.
About Avis Charley
Avis Charley (Spirit Lake Dakota/ Diné) is a visual artist born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and currently resides in Las Vegas, NV, where she is part of the Nuwu Art Collective. She is a graduate from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM (2018). Charley is a ledger artist and painter who creates figurative drawings and paintings exploring the evolving Native American identity from pre-reservation period to the present day, from ancestral homelands to city life. Ledger art was Charley’s first art form, where she incorporates women’s stories of parenting, family, and community. Through portrait oil painting, Charley portrays Indigenous women in modern settings. She celebrates resistance to assimilation and colonization with vibrant hues and details not possible in her ledger pieces. Charley draws inspiration from her culture, friends, family, upbringing, and adornment. She creates work for future generations as she documents contemporary stories and experiences. Charley’s work centers Indigenous visibility with accurate representation, depicting the strength, resilience and beauty of Native women and peoples.
