Past Native Artists-in-Residence

On August 31, 2021, Seattle Rep announced its first Native Artist-in-Residence Arianne True, a local poet and folk artist.

Arianne True (Choctaw, Chickasaw) teaches and mentors with Writers in the Schools (WITS), the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate program, and the Young Writers Cohort. She has received fellowships from Jack Straw and Hugo House and is a proud alum of Hedgebrook and of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). After completing her residency at Seattle Rep, Arianne True was named 2023-2025 Washington State Poet Laureate.

“Arianne’s project excited the selection committee on many levels,” former Director of Arts Engagement Nabra Nelson said. “The way she approaches poetry seamlessly integrates performance and writing, and her showcase installation will bring the PONCHO Forum alive in a way that has never been seen before. Not only will her interactive installation inspire audiences and community members, but additional community engagement throughout her residency will open our eyes to experimental poetry and Native art throughout the season. Seattle Rep feels prepared and excited to support Arianne in this next stage in her artistry, and to kick off the Native Artist-in-Residence program with her vision at the forefront.”

In April 2022, Arianne True's exhibition exhibits was held in Seattle Rep's PONCHO Forum. The installation transformed a new book of poetry by Arianne True into an immersive museum experience. This installation engaged with how the experience of childhood trauma doesn't end when you turn eighteen. It examined how the effects ripple, even for decades, finding new ways to manifest and asking to be healed. Given the history of Natives and American museums, the museum installation form is a perfect place to repatriate a stolen body, and the artist in the galleries hopes to do just that across the course of the work.

On September 22, 2022, Seattle Rep announced its second Native Artist-in-Residence, multidisciplinary storyteller, writer, and composer D.A. Navoti.

D.A. Navoti is a member of the Gila River Indian Community and a multidisciplinary storyteller, writer, and composer. He is a 2022 Artist Trust Fellowship awardee and a 2022 Artist Support Program (ASP) resident with Jackstraw Cultural Center. Previously, Navoti was a writer fellow at Jack Straw Cultural Center (2016) and Hugo House (2017). His literary work has appeared in Homology Lit, Spartan, Indian Country Today, Cloudthroat, and elsewhere. And recently, Navoti founded and curated We the Indigenous, a West Coast literary series.

Seattle Rep's former Director of Arts Engagement Nabra Nelson said, “The selection committee was very excited by each of the different elements of D.A.’s proposal for the season, including community engagement aspects, professional development, and inspired art-making. His writing is brilliant, and the fact that he is planning on engaging a group of other storytellers is very exciting. Seattle Rep can enthusiastically support this project with the various resources that we provide through the Native Artist-in-Residence program, and we are excited by the fact that D.A.’s goals align so well with the intended goals of the program.”

D.A.'s residency focused on facilitating a queer storytelling cohort throughout the 2022/23 Season. On May 20, 2023 in Seattle Rep's PONCHO Forum, LGBTQIA+ storytellers across Puget Sound shared stories through performance, music, literature, and more in Queer and Courageous: Stories of Existence and Resistance. This showcase benefitted the Gender Justice League.

On August 25, 2023, Seattle Rep announced its third Native Artist-in-Residence, multi-hyphenate artist Howie Echo-Hawk.

Howie Echo-Hawk (AKA theres more) (they/them/she/her) is a queer, trans-nonbinary comedian, musician, DJ, burlesque performer, writer, event producer, visual artist, and all around Native person (Pawnee Nation, Kitkehaki Band. Adopted Upper Ahtna Athabaskan, Mentasta Lake Village). Howie wishes you would leave them alone, but you won’t, so here we are. They are perhaps best known for their comedy, which has been called “at least standup adjacent” by the Juneau Empire, and “punishment comedy” by themself. They have been featured as one of the top 26 Native American comedians to watch by UPROXX. Several of their poems and short stories have been published, including a trans erotica piece titled Tuesday Adams Burns their village to the ground. They have a podcast called Every Native Episode and produce events as the founder of Indigenize Productions. Most importantly, a video they made for one of their jazz fusion songs was accepted into a circus film festival.

Read up on articles written about Howie's comedy work:

• High Country News: “Pawnee comic Howie Echo-Hawk wants to see you squirm”
• The Evergrey: “Meet the Seattleite who does 'punishment comedy’”

They play music, dj, and perform under the name “theres more,” for which they have an entirely different bio in the first person, which begins now.

hi. im theres more. (it/itself/etc)
isn’t it weird that bios are usually written in the third person? like, you know that im writing this, and i know you know that. anyways, im an artist i guess.
i grew up in the woods of Alaska and found a love for the consistent inconsistency of nature, and as an artist largely reject perfection and labels. being a backwards person by nature, i try not to become too consistent in anything i do.
most of my visual pieces are first drafts. for my music, i make jazz, reggae, dub, house,/dance, hip hop, rnb, and lots in between.
i seek to find the joy in creation, and i love the process itself more than any final product.
after years and years of being a cynic, i now believe there is more to life, there is more to you, there is more to us.
there is just more

About their selection, Seattle Rep Director of Arts Engagement Deanna Martinez says, "Howie Echo-Hawk presented their application in their very specific voice: funny, subversive, and with an intersectional viewpoint. Eager to create space for the Native community, Howie emphasized particular representation for queer and trans Natives. They presented a menu of performance possibilities, including music, comedy, and a one-person show. As Howie is a well-established artist, we are excited to see how we can best support their work in a residency, and deepen this relationship so valued by Seattle Rep."