Dawn Spears
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TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Narragansett
MEDIUM: Clothing, Diverse Arts, Painting/Illustration
PANEL: Indigenous Farm to Table
ARTIST STATEMENT
Dawn Spears (Narragansett), the Director of the Northeast Indigenous Arts Alliance (NIAA), is a multimedia artist whose work is infused with cultural symbolism and the vibrant colors of our natural world, and farming is part of her art. She also supports the Indigenous artist community through facilitating art markets and other opportunities that increase the visibility and vitality of Indigenous arts and culture. For more than twenty-five years, Dawn has worked to support Indigenous arts as an artist, educator, demonstrator, and organizer. Dawn produced two of the largest and most significant markets in New England, the Indigenous Fine Arts Market East in 2016 and the inaugural Abbe Museum Indian Market in 2018. She returned to the production area in 2024 with the Abbe Museum’s inaugural event, the Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas. She is a 2020 Assets for Artists grantee, a 2015 RI State Council for the Arts (RISCA) Master Apprenticeship grantee, and was the Community Artist in Residence at the New Bedford Art Museum in 2021. Dawn has exhibited at the most prestigious Indian art markets across the country, including the American Indian Arts Marketplace at the Autry Museum in Glendale, CA, the Heard Museum Indian Fair & Market in Phoenix, AZ, and the SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market in Santa Fe, NM. In 2024, her art was featured on the USDA’s National Native American Heritage Month poster. Dawn currently sits on several advisory’s (Brown University, Yellow Farmhouse, Tomaquag Museum) and serves on her town’s Conservation Commission and the State’s Farm Service Agency County Commission. She continues to work consulting regionally and nationally, supporting arts programming and business training for artists.
An active member of her tribal community, Dawn served as the Narragansett Indian Tribe’s Tribal Secretary for two terms and currently serves as chair of the Narragansett Indian Tribal Election Committee and vice chair for the Economic Development Commission. In 2014, Dawn and her husband formed the Narragansett Food Sovereignty Initiative, a farm-based organization devoted to reclaiming food and cultural ways for Narragansett people. They currently own and operate Ashawaug Farm in Ashaway, RI. Dawn also enjoys her role as mother and grandmother. Dawn's work within her family, community, and in the arts is driven by her belief in the preservation and education of culture and traditions.
