From Savannah LeCornu’s intimate portraits to Jason LaClair’s large-scale murals, Native art is vital to Whatcom County’s cultural identity. Deanna Lane, founder of Whatcom County art collective Native Arts 360, has devoted her career to helping historically underrepresented artists find new platforms.
“Art is my entire life. It’s in my DNA,” she said. “The goal is to provide as many opportunities for artists to get their work out there and share it as broadly as possible.”
Lane is a creator herself, but when “no surface felt big enough to make art on,” she realized her primary interest lay in community-building. This led her to found Native Arts 360, formerly Native Arts Collective, in 2013 to help connect Indigenous and other underrepresented artists to broader opportunities.
With Native Arts 360, Lane promotes Indigenous artists through channels ranging from in-person exhibitions and events to e-commerce, marketing and networking.
Lane’s background
Lane is of Black, Creek, Cherokee (Eastern Band) and Lenape heritage and got her start in the arts with New York-based nonprofit American Indian Community House. She describes the nonprofit as a “very intertribal community that raised me lovingly,” and views her current work as a way to honor this early mentorship.
Lane has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, and a master’s in cultural anthropology and museum studies at New Mexico State University, noting the latter experience “opened her world in another way.” From there, Lane worked with the Smithsonian Institute at the National Museum of the American Indian in advance of the museum’s Washington, D.C. branch opening.
“That was my extended professional and personal family,” Lane said of the National Museum of the American Indian staff. “[The experience] really showed me just how to get work out there in the most professional and respectful manner, working with the elders, working with emerging artists, and so I’ve just kind of continued that.”
Lane’s family ties eventually spurred a move to Bellingham, where she has helped organize exhibitions and connect Native artists to institutes, including Whatcom Museum and the Museum of Northwest Art. Lane served as the interim director of Sculpture Northwest and DEI coordinator of Allied Arts of Whatcom County, with whom she established the Whatcom Cultural Arts Festival in 2018.
Exhibitions and offerings
Lane organized her first show with Native Arts 360, “Of This Land,” with Sculpture Northwest in February 2017. The exhibition included traditional Lummi carver Felix Solomon and Lummi glass artist Dan Friday, both of whom Lane said are “huge inspirations for me.” From there, she executed three Native Arts 360 exhibitions with Allied Arts in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
Most recently, Native Arts 360 presented an exhibition at COF&, entitled “Thriving,” in October–November 2023 for Native American Heritage Month. In addition to 2D works by artists such as LeCornu, Káa Sháyee and LaClair, the exhibition included an Oct. 28 pop-up market with makers such as Copper Canoe Woman and Maddy Flowers.
During “Thriving,” Lane also collaborated with Western’s Native American Student Union and Northwest Indian College to present an IndigiQueer fashion show on Nov. 15, 2023. The show featured Lummi designer Mariah Dodd and music from DJ Big Rez, also from Lummi.
Lane has also begun promoting artwork created by people of color through Native Arts 360’s e-commerce site, offering artists another way to sell work between shows. The site offers everything from original art to prints and even apparel. This way, Lane said, “the art moves away from being seen and perceived as this elitist thing, to being able to give broader access.”
Current artists affiliated with Native Arts 360’s e-commerce site include LeCornu, Ivan Colin, Taj Williams and LaClair, all of whose art is available for purchase. LaClair designed Native Arts 360’s logo and described Lane as “helpful in so many ways,” whether that be through bringing lunch and refreshments while LaClair works on murals, or helping to promote his work in the community.
In the near future, Lane is promoting Lummi children’s book author Sharayah Lane’s “ABC’s of Grateful,” and will bring works from 10 Buffalos Art into Native Arts 360’s “extended family” via e-commerce.
Bridging gaps through art
Lane’s livelihood stems from a belief that art “has the potential to be a phenomenal healer and equalizer.” She said art gives viewers access to stories that can potentially bridge gaps in understanding and build empathy.
“I told my daughter, ‘The more access to stories you have, the more wealth you have,’” Lane said. “There’s a protection in that, because … you can function in different communities when you have access to those stories. You’re not living in ignorance, where it’s very fear-based.”
Lane also sees art as a way to bridge gaps between generations. She noted the crowd at the IndigiQueer fashion show was ultimately “as intergenerational as it’s supposed to be,” including youth to elders and everyone in between.
“We have to make sure that [young people] are empowered and that they see themselves in these events,” Lane said. “We say, ‘If you can see it, you can be it.’”
As she plans for 2024 events, including an exhibition on Camano Island, Lane aims to “pass the torch” and share the mentorship she herself received. In her view, the goal of Native Arts 360 isn’t just to promote Native art — it’s to provide future generations with the tools necessary to tell their own story.
Info: arts360.nativearts360.org, facebook.com/NativeArts360
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
