Mornings with O’Keeffe: “Tewa Nangeh/Tewa Country”

Jason Garcia/Okuu Pín, Co-Curator (Kha’p’o Owingeh / Santa Clara Pueblo) 

Jason Garcia’s (Okuu Pín/‘Turtle Mountain’) work documents the ever-changing cultural landscape of his home of Kha’p’o Owingeh/Santa Clara Pueblo, NM. Garcia’s Tewa cultural ceremonies, traditions, and stories, as well as 21st-century popular culture, comic books, and technology, influence his clay and print work. Using traditional materials and traditional Pueblo pottery techniques coupled with various printmaking techniques, this juxtaposition of customary and contemporary materials and techniques connects him to his Ancestral past, landscape, and cultural knowledge. His work has been exhibited in many Museums and various exhibitions in the Southwest and the Midwest United States, these include the National Museum of the American Indian, Arizona State University, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Colby Museum of Art, and the Peabody Essex Museum. Garcia earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, and his Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. Garcia resides and works in his studio located in Santa Clara Pueblo, NM.

Bess Murphy, Luce Curator of Art and Social Practice, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Bess Murphy joined the Museum in 2022, where she oversees exhibitions, programs, and initiatives bridging the museum and artists and community. Previously, she worked for eight years at the Coe Center for the Arts as Creative Director and Curator, where she worked with leading Native artists, community members, and students to develop programs and exhibitions. At the Coe, she worked on many artist-driven projects, including the social engagement exhibition Giving Growth with Eliza Naranjo Morse and Jamison Chas Banks and the immersive project Function with Cannupa Hanska Luger. She also directed the Coe’s education programming. Bess received her PhD in Art History, with a focus on Native American 20th C. art, from the University of Southern California. She has taught Art History and Museum Studies at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design and the Institute of American Indian Arts and has held positions at galleries, museums, art centers, and alternative artist-led art spaces.