Erin Genia (she/her), Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate/Odawa, is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and community organizer specializing in Indigenous arts and culture. Genia’s work in these areas is focused on amplifying the powerful presence of Indigenous peoples on the occupied lands of America in the arts, sciences, and public realm to invoke an evolution of thought and practice that is aligned with the cycles of the natural world and the potential of humanity. Genia’s artistic practice merges Dakota cultural imperatives, pure expression, and exploration of materiality with the conceptual. Erin is fluent in multiple modes of expression: sculpture, fiber, sound, performance, digital media, painting, printmaking, jewelry, and ceramics. Her work has received attention from diverse audiences, and been exhibited nationally and internationally at the Urbano Project in Boston, the Venice Biennale, Ars Electronica, the Museum of Northwest Art, and the International Space Station. Erin has an M.S. in Art, Culture and Technology from MIT, an M.P.A. in Tribal Governance from The Evergreen State College, and studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She was awarded the 2019 MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellowship and the AAF/Seebacher Prize for Fine Arts in 2018. Erin’s public art commissions include the Minnesota Historical Society and the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. Erin is an artist-in-residence for the City of Boston and works with the New England Foundation for the Arts Public Art Team on the project Centering Justice: Indigenous Artists’ Perspectives on Public Art.
