LUX Center for the Arts has been teaching outreach art classes across Lincoln for almost a decade. Throughout that time we have brought our classes to low-income, at-risk youth, as well as cancer survivors, afterschool clubs, rehabilitation programs, and various other groups.

This past summer we continued to work with the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Longtime LUX Fellow and figure sculptor, Nathan Murray, lead a group of Ponca youth through the process of casting their faces in plaster and making masks. Here is what they had to say about the project:

“Project Venture is an evidence-based, culturally-relevant outdoor adventure prevention program for Native youth from all tribes. While PV is a year-long program, during the summer we focus on working with Native youth ages 6-12. As a group we concentrate on building a foundation of community, a strong sense of identity, and a relationship with the land, all essential but difficult things for Native people when you live farther apart and in an urban setting. The LUX has been an amazing local partner and an essential piece of this puzzle, helping us explore concepts of our unique but interrelated tribal identities and what it means to be a Native youth in today’s world. The LUX’s openness to learning, wilingness to collaborate, and professional experience and skill have been invaluable for both the Project Venture program and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. I am excited to work with them well into the future and discover what else we can create together with our kids. When I reflect on our work together and shared goals, I remember my people’s sacred phrase, Mitakuye Oyasin, we are all related.”