Anthony Rugnetta
3Q
Since its inception in 2016, Indigenous arts market We Are the SEEDS has proven a popular alternative to other Native arts events in Santa Fe. Since then, the organization has expanded (in size and geography—including a presence in Philadelphia) and bloomed, becoming one of the more popular events in town. Still, like everything, COVID-19 pretty much ruined SEEDS’ 2020 plans. But as we hit the latter part of 2021, you’ll find an abbreviated version/group exhibit running through Oct. 15, this time at downtown gallery form & concept (435 S Guadalupe St., 505-780-8312). We spoke with SEEDS co-founder and Director Tailinh Agoyo to find out more.
Given the shape of everything and COVID-19, how would you say SEEDS is faring this year, both in Santa Fe and Philadelphia?
We’ve been very successful at quickly being responsive and understanding what’s going on in the world around us and what the needs are, for both our artists and our community. We’ve been able to address needs, and the organization has really thrived.
First we grieved. We had planned for many programs and events to happen, and just like everybody else, there was this domino effect of things being shut down, canceled or postponed. We had a few moments where we had to freeze, honor and reassess, and then we jumped to action. We did a fundraiser and raised quite a bit of money, so we were able to offer COVID-19 relief to about 25 artists.
One of the things we did was to move some things from in-person to virtual, but I didn’t love that. It didn’t feel right to me. We Are the SEEDS is so much about personal connection and us being together as people in the same place. We shifted and did a program called Gathering SEEDS 2.0 with seven Indigenous artists, and the concept was that it was four weeks, and every week we’d have a series of short videos for people to enjoy. It wasn’t a Zoom call, it was recreating the way we communicated altogether, and it was really wonderful. And we were able to pay the artists, which is always important to do. It gave them the freedom to do whatever they wanted. Eventually, we did decide to do a virtual workshop with Layli Long Soldier in November—a poetry workshop on Dadaism—and it was small, but it was great. We all felt like we didn’t want it to end, and it felt like the first time in a long time we were connecting, so we decided to do a year of that, and it’s called Gathering SEEDS 2.1. It’ll have all different Indigenous artists every month. It’s kind of like self care, just showing up and taking some time for yourself on a Saturday afternoon.
Why is form & concept the right fit for SEEDS?
I just love working with [Director] Jordan [Eddy]. I’ve worked with Jordan a long time, and he has such vision and is such a lovely person. And form & concept stands out. The gallery is aesthetically beautiful. And the work…When I see the exhibitions that come through, the artists are groundbreaking. They take many steps beyond the expectations of what people think they’re coming to Santa Fe for, and they go so far beyond that to offer people a wider view of what the art world is. The artists they bring in have a lot to share and teach people. You’re getting so much depth, and the people [the gallery] works with offer all of that.
For We Are the Seeds, it’s an absolute honor to be working with the gallery. I pinch myself all the time. We had a meeting with Jordan the other day, and we were going through the exhibit, which we curated together, and I got such chills. We know these artists so well, and a lot of them are friends and SEEDS family, and we see them at SEEDS in the Railyard, but to have them through the lens of form & concept in such a sophisticated way, it’s very lifted. Elegant. Elevated. What we do in the Railyard is its own thing, but to see those pieces pulled out of that environment to where they’re presented in this way, and our story is being told in this way…I have all the feels.
Given the usual scope of SEEDS, how did you even decide what would go into a smaller exhibit?
We chose about 25 artists. SEEDS in the Railyard has anywhere between 60 to 100, but we really thought about which artists have been a part of the SEEDS community: The supportive advocates, the people giving us the love and who have participated more than just having a booth. It’s people who we have stories with and about. It’s not a transactional thing, this is a community we built. In curating this show, we were really thinking about why SEEDS was important, why we had to create it and why it’s important for it to continue. Telling these artists’ stories is part of that.
