The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) to sponsor the upcoming CloudTop Comedy Festival’s Indigenous Showcase—A Celebration of New Mexico’s Indigenous Comedians Sept. 16. Courtesy/IAIA

IAIA News:

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is proud to sponsor the upcoming CloudTop Comedy Festival’s Indigenous Showcase—A Celebration of New Mexico’s Indigenous Comedians, which will take place Sept. 16, at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market in the Santa Fe Railyard.

In even more exciting news, four fabulous comedians from the Indigenous Showcase—and one IAIA student—will perform a private preview for IAIA students, staff, and faculty on campus at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14.

The comedians are Ricardo Caté (Kewa Pueblo), Adrianne Chalepah (Kiowa and Apache), Cory Herrera (Cochiti Pueblo), and Josh Fournier (Diné):

• Caté is the creator of the satirical comic strip “Without Reservations,” published in the Santa Fe New Mexican. He is the only Native American cartoonist carried in a mainstream daily newspaper. Caté has been performing comedy since 2004 and has opened for the popular Indigenous comic duo, James & Ernie.
• Chalepah is a boarding school graduate, standup comedian, mother, writer, actor, fearless cat lady, and IAIA alum. She helped form the femme-powered standup troupe, “Ladies of Native Comedy.” Chalepah is a 2021 Yes and Laughter Lab finalist and recipient of the inaugural TimeWarner Media IAIA Creative Writing Scholarship. Catch her as “Cousin Shannon” on Peacock’s hit series, Rutherford Falls.
• Herrera is a comedian from Cochiti Pueblo. He is the only person from his tribe to ever pursue a career in comedy. Herrera started performing in 2019 and had an expedited introduction to the scene when he was featured in CloudTop Comedy Festival’s 2019 Future Comedy Showcase.
• Fournier was born on the Navajo Reservation near Farmington, NM, and raised in Albuquerque. Growing up immersed in Native American and colonial cultures, traditions, and histories, he loves to address tensions between different cultures. Fournier has been recognized as Albuquerque’s Funniest and Favorite Comedian.

The CloudTop Comedy Festival takes place Sept. 15­­–17.

CloudTop is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization promoting world-class and up-and-coming comics through professional support, workshops, networking, and their annual festival. They work to build a robust community of comedians and comedy-goers across Northern New Mexico.

For more information, contact Jason S. Ordaz, IAIA Director of Communications, at jason.ordaz@iaia.edu.

Courtesy/IAIA

Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)—the birthplace of contemporary Indigenous American art—has been the educational home for esteemed and innovative artists, writers, filmmakers, performers, and leaders since 1962. IAIA continues to grow on its stunning 140- acre campus in Santa Fe. Named one of the top art institutions globally by UNESCO and the International Association of Art and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, IAIA offers undergraduate degrees in Cinematic Arts and Technology, Creative Writing, Indigenous Liberal Studies, Museum Studies, Performing Arts, and Studio Arts; graduate degrees in Creative Writing, Studio Arts, and Cultural Administration; and certificates in Broadcast Journalism, Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History. The college serves approximately 500 full-time Native and non-Native American students from around the globe, representing nearly a hundred federally recognized tribes.

From its humble beginnings on the Santa Fe Indian School campus, IAIA began collecting and exhibiting its students’ artworks, forming a collection that became the foundation of the world’s premier museum representing contemporary Indigenous arts and cultures—the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA). MoCNA continues expanding its renowned collection of nearly 10,000 artworks, curating numerous progressive and innovative exhibitions, both traveling and at our museum in downtown Santa Fe.

The theme Making History encompasses IAIA’s and MoCNA’s 2022 events celebrating rich history and looking forward to a vibrant future. They ask everyone to join them in celebrating IAIA’s sixtieth and MoCNA’s semicentennial anniversaries throughout this monumental year as “we continue Making History”.