D.A. Navoti
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.
Magda Manning, Clare Johnson, Tatyana Emery, Glenda West, D.A. Navoti, Amy Mayes, Todd Bohannon, Tootsie Spangles, and Dana Anastasia in Queer and Courageous: Stories of Existence and Resistance Showcase (2023).
Arianne True
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.
