Colorado Art RanchPhoto: David Peterson
 

 

C.Maxx Stevens

Installation artist
Boulder, CO

C.Maxx Stevens is an Installation Artist and a member of Seminole / Mvscogee Nation from the Oklahoma Region.  She is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. From 2002 – 2005 C.Maxx served as the Academic Dean in the Center for Arts and Cultural Studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  C.Maxx received her Masters of Fine Arts in 1987 from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1979 from Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas and in 1972 her Associate of Arts from Haskell Indian Junior College, Lawrence, Kansas.

C.Maxx has been a recipient of many awards and honors such as 2005 Eiteljorge Fellowship Award from the Eiteljorge Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2000 Artist Grant from the Andrea Frank Foundation in New York, New York and in 1998 Sculptor Award from The Joan Mitchell Foundation, Inc. in New York, New York. She has exhibited at the C. N. Gorman Museum, University of California at Davis, Davis, California; Eiteljorge Museum of Indian Art, Indianapolis, Indiana; Museum of Arts and Crafts, New York, New York; Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; The Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Missoula, Montana; Boise Art Museum, Boise, Montana; Smithsonian Museum of Indian Art, New York, New York; and  White Mountain Academy Gallery, Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada to name a few.


About the DIA Project
The piece depicts a moment in my mother’s life. From her carport she thought she was seeing a bunch of birds twirling around and around.  She asks my sister what they were doing.  My sister was stunned to see that it was a tornado coming by the edge of our lot of land.  This incident has such sense of the character of the life of my people on the land and in the Midwest. The story illustrates a humorous contemporary story, but the focus is on how we interact with day-to-day situations and forces of nature. This recent work is examining myself as well as forces of nature, and how in both cases there is a decision I have to either slow it down or let it spin out of control.

In my culture, storytellers have an important place in the continuation of the history and our tradition.  My father who was a great storyteller has created a huge memory base for my siblings and myself to draw on, and learn from.  When we gather together we always end up telling these stories and enjoy remembering our father.  It is this base and stories that influence and aid my role as a visual storyteller. 




 

  

33 IDEAS!, an exhibit of art, writing and ideas
March 15-June 15, 2010

Denver International Airport

DIA PostcardThis exhibit showcases visual and literary artists associated with Colorado Art Ranch as presenters, artists in residence, or Nomads at one or more Artposia. The artists were selected because they use their passion, skills, knowledge, and talent to ask questions and react to the world around them. The work, in turn, inspires us to ask questions and view the world from different perspectives.

33 IDEAS! is on display at the Ansbacher Hall: The Art of Colorado, on the walkway between the terminal and A Gates before the security screening. The hall is accessible for everyone’s enjoyment.

For more information contact DIA Art Program at
(303) 342-2521 or visit www.flydenver.com/art

 

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