My work began in Indiana, where I lived these last 20 years and learned to appreciate my Latinx culture and traditional Mexican upbringing. The cultural displacement and lack of Latinx culture I experienced in the Midwest allowed me to see the disparities of social justices and drove me to create with the purpose of self identity and expression of culture. My childhood was spent on the border cities of Brownsville, TX and Tamaulipas, MX. Through my work I have become a craftswoman, artisan, and activist artist. Growing up on the border of two countries, alI I saw was the economic hardships that plagued my family, the lack of education, complacency, and a dead end to my aspirations. I tried to forget, but once I began creating with my hands, it became an obsession to find self identity and clarity of cultural belonging.

I believe my work identifies with the adversities that many American Latinx experience, striving to identify with both cultures simultaneously. I have a social and artistic responsibility to create work that embraces my “Mexicanismo” and embodies similar immigrant stories that create unity and strength among a people.

As a first generation Mexican American artist, my work’s sole purpose has been in the renewing and recreating of indigenous cultural awareness.

I believe in creating artwork that represents the beauty and value of the most vulnerable communities.

Stuart Hyatt is a Grammy-nominated artist and musician who creates interdisciplinary projects in the public realm. His current work turns audio field recordings into music, releasing collaborative and experimental albums under the Field Works moniker. This body of work is now available as a 7-album box set from the Brooklyn-based record label Temporary Residence LTD. A companion listener’s guide has been published by the Dutch imprint Jap Sam Books.

Hyatt’s work is intended to celebrate marginalized communities, at-risk species, and fragile ecosystems. Each project is cross-disciplinary and involves diverse collaborators, from esteemed scientists and authors to homeless veterans and disabled artists.

Stuart Hyatt’s project with the IUPUI Arts & Humanities Institute is titled Ultrasonic: Making Music With Endangered Indiana Bats. The first phase saw Hyatt designing three functional sculptures and installing them along the south edge of campus near White River. The second phase was given a wonderful boost of support by the National Geographic Society, who named Hyatt an Explorer.

Ultrasonic: Making Music With Endangered Indiana Bats is a collaborative storytelling initiative that centers around the plight of an important midwestern species and its habitats. Perhaps the first ever project that uses the transposed sounds of bats to create music, this ambitious endeavor will yield a full length album pressed to vinyl and a series of live performances. Ultrasonic is intended to entertain and educate the community about a fascinating, but threatened animal.

Hyatt is the founder of TEAM Records, an imprint for music recordings and performances. He is a member of M12 Studio, the arts collective known for work that examines contemporary rural aesthetics, landscapes, and communities. Hyatt also works independently via commission as Stuart Hyatt Studio, LLC. He lives in Indianapolis.

Samuel E. Vázquez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1970 to parents of African, Spanish, French, and Jewish descent. His parents recognized his artistic inclination at the age of four and encouraged him to explore the arts. In 1979 the family moved to New York City where Samuel first became aware of the graffiti that covered the city's subways and walls. By 1983 Samuel began painting and writing the subways using the name "Brame." He is a member of numerous New York City graffiti crews. After the New York City subway graffiti era ended, Vázquez shifted his focus to furthering his education. He holds degrees from New York City College of Technology, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, and the Herron School of Art and Design.

Vázquez's studio practice investigates human interaction and humanity’s resilience to rise above social constructs. Through the use of diverse materials these investigations are manifested via an uncommon, impulsive, and organic voice—full of vibrant colors, uninhibited gestures, and relentless energy.

Along with style writing, his inspiration is rooted in the works of Ed Clark, Jackson Pollock, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Vázquez’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and cultural institutions. He has lectured on the history of style writing in venues such as the Arts Council of Indianapolis, New York City College of Technology-CUNY, Indianapolis Public Library Central Branch, Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler Arts Center, and Indianapolis Museum of Art.

During his time at IAHI, Vázquez will be undertaking primary research on a historical Style Writing project.

Visit Samuel E Vázquez's website at http://www.samuelevazquez.com

Nina Elder is an artist, adventurer, and arts administrator. She grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico where she cultivated love for the land and curiosity about its use. After earning an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, Nina returned to northern New Mexico where she co-founded an off-the-grid artist residency program called PLAND: Practice Liberating Art through Necessary Dislocation followed by several years as the Residency Program Director at the Santa Fe Art Institute. Nina’s work is exhibited and collected nationally, and has been supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Rauschenburg Foundation, and the Pollock Krasner Foundation.

Nina examines historic land use and its cycles of production, consumption, and waste. Mines, bombing ranges, and junk heaps are source material for her landscape paintings and representational drawings that explore the line between land and landscape, beauty and banality. She has backpacked into mines, travelled to Arctic Cold War military sites, and obtained government clearance to tour the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. She has drawn with radioactive charcoal, ore from mines, and dam silt. Her personal experience of research is reflected through performative, narrative presentations that are equal parts travel log, artist talk, personal story-sharing, and scientific inquiry, as well as a call for greater curiosity and engagement with the world.

Visit Nina Elder's website at http://ninaelder.com.

Nina's work as a City State resident is affiliated with The Anthropocene Household, a project supported by the IU Grand Challenges: Prepared for Environmental Change and Rivers of the Anthropocene projects.

A native of Indianapolis, Kyle Long has always been interested in building bridges between his home state and ideas, people, and music from around the world. Largely self-educated, Long’s research interests developed alongside his work as an electronic music DJ. Prior to launching his career as a DJ, Long spent several years engaged in the independent study of global dance music forms. He put this knowledge to use in 2010 by forming Cultural Cannibals, a partnership with visual artist Artur Silva. Through Cultural Cannibals, Long and Silva have worked to create greater appreciation for the cultural traditions of Indianapolis’ diverse immigrant community.

In 2011 Long was hired to develop a weekly music column for the Indianapolis-based alternative newspaper NUVO. Titling the series Cultural Manifesto, Long began documenting Indianapolis’ immigrant music scene, while also engaging in a serious examination of the city’s musical history. To date, Long has conducted hundreds of interviews with historically significant Indianapolis musicians. In 2015 Long expended his Cultural Manifesto column to a weekly radio program on the Indianapolis NPR affiliate WFYI.

As a DJ Long has performed at numerous festivals and events such as Super Bowl XLVI, the India Association of Indianapolis’ India Day, and La Plaza's FIESTA. Long has performed alongside some of his greatest musical inspirations, including Zakir Hussain, Laraaji and Os Mutantes. In addition to his work as a DJ, Long has also worked as a music curator for institutions including the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Mayor's office of International and Cultural Affairs, and the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital.

During his time at IAHI Long will be working on a book about the prolific Indianapolis sign painter Jasper Travis, better known as the Brushmaster. Long developed an interest in the Bushmaster’s work during the late 1990s and began documenting the artist’s work with a disposable camera. He will also be working with the IAHI to curate a series of music performances at The Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, just steps away from the IUPUI campus.

Outside is a new kind of design agency that uses human-centered design practices to reduce suffering and increase peace, health, and well-being.

The agency was founded by Oliver Blank and Asha Jimenez who have previously designed useful things with UNICEF, UNHCR, ThoughtWorks, Google, and Lego amongst others.

Outside does three things: consult, design, and empower. From the small details to the big picture, Outside provides expert advice and actionable feedback. Having worked with some of the most impactful organisations in the world on end-to-end design, Outside can build anything. Through workshops and mentoring, Outside builds capacity in your organisation for design thinking, processes, and strategy.

More about Oliver:

Oliver Blank is an artist and designer. His artwork is about intimacy and affection in public, and his design projects focus on the prevention of suffering.

Oliver’s artwork induces unforgettable experiences that instil a shared romance. Past projects include composing music for forgotten buildings and hosting a phone-line that collects messages for lost loves and missed connections. His artwork has been exhibited in countries including Japan, Mexico, and Spain, and venues such as Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Oliver is the co-founder of Outside, a humanitarian design agency. Focused on humanitarian design, Oliver’s work includes an award-winning communication tool for refugee field workers and a platform that provides critical information to people in natural disasters. He has launched projects for Google, Lego, and Nokia, and collaborated with various NGOs including IRC, UNICEF, and War Child.

More about Natasha:

Natasha Jimenez is an artist, engineer, and designer.

Her art focuses on people’s connection to the natural world and each other. In her latest piece, The Last Conservatory, she creates a multi-sensory installation constructed out of foraged wood, moss, and fragrant herbs. Music and poetry emanate from inside the trunk of a tree, coercing the audience to physically connect to the soothing properties of nature.

Natasha is also the co-founder of humanitarian design agency Outside, where she designs things that promote peace, health, and wellbeing. She has developed projects with various NGOs including IRC, UNHCR, and MercyCorps. Natasha is the lead developer for Translation Cards, an award-winning app that enables field workers to communicate with refugees effectively.

Chris is trained as a landscape architect whose work focuses on landscape design projects with implementation in complex infrastructural, ecological, and cultural contexts. He has a particular interest in the craft, form, and material of landscape projects that express unique character and high quality. His previous project experience ranges from planning and urban design to detailed site design with public agencies, institutions, and private developers.

Chris has received recognition of his work with awards from the Urban Land Institute, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Institute of Architects, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His work has been in exhibits in Boston, New York, and London and has been published in Landscape Architecture Magazine, Environment and Landscape Architecture of Korea, and a variety of online media publications.

Chris studied landscape architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Purdue University. For his academic work, Chris was named an Olmsted Scholar, Harvard Community Service Fellow, and was a Research Associate with the Harvard GSD's Office for Urbanization. He has lectured and been a design critic at schools in Boston, Florida, and Indiana.

Chris is also the co-founder of a monthly event series in Orlando, Florida focused on urban issues titled "Rethinking the City."