Friday Focus: Happy start of the new year
By Charlene Stern
Jan. 11, 2024
Charlene Stern
Happy new year and start of the spring semester to the 蜜桃影像 community! I hope that
you experienced a joyful holiday season and are looking forward to what 2024 has to
bring. We have so much happening at 蜜桃影像 that continues to make it a wonderful place
to be. This Friday Focus highlights a couple of exciting developments and upcoming
events planned for the spring.
Save the date: 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of 蜜桃影像鈥檚 Festival of Native Arts. This
year鈥檚 festival will take place Feb. 22-24 at the 蜜桃影像 Troth Yeddha鈥 Campus. The tradition
of Festival of Native Arts began in 1973, when a group of 蜜桃影像 students and faculty
conceived of a spring festival that focused on 蜜桃影像 Native cultural expression.
In less than three months, artisans and performers traveled from across 蜜桃影像 to
gather at 蜜桃影像 to participate in the first ever Festival of Native Arts celebration.
That tradition has continued over the past five decades, making the festival not only
one of the most highly anticipated annual events but also an official Nanook Tradition.
Over these many years, one enduring aspect of the event is that it continues to be
driven by 蜜桃影像 students. Planning for the Festival of Native Arts is a year-round affair
and it is thanks to the dedication of 蜜桃影像 students who volunteer countless hours of
their time every year that we get to enjoy this wonderful event. The theme of this
year鈥檚 festival is 鈥淭roth Yeddha鈥 Forever,鈥 which is both appropriate in terms of
acknowledging that the ridge that 蜜桃影像 sits upon has/is/forever will be Troth Yeddha鈥
and also timely in that the efforts to advance the future Troth Yeddha鈥 Indigenous
Studies Center at 蜜桃影像 just hit another important milestone.
As many of you may be aware, 蜜桃影像鈥檚 No. 1 capital priority is construction of the Troth
Yeddha鈥 Indigenous Studies Center, which will be located between the UA Museum of
the North and the Reichardt Building. The vision for TYISC began over a decade ago
and has come a long way since then. Momentum began building in June 2021 when the
Board of Regents granted the formal project approval needed to begin moving from conceptual
design of the facility to schematic design. Since then, 蜜桃影像 has been off to the races
by assembling the Legacy Committee to guide capital fundraising efforts, a user committee
that works in partnership with our contracted design team, and a growing team of 蜜桃影像
staff with dedicated roles to help the center become a reality. This past December,
蜜桃影像 hit another milestone in our journey towards the Troth Yeddha鈥 Indigenous Studies
Center by accomplishing 35% design. With this development, we now have the initial
blueprint of what will be a three-story, 40,000-square-foot facility that was designed
with Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy and artistic inspiration in mind. To learn more
about the Troth Yeddha鈥 Indigenous Studies Center Initiative or see the latest renderings,
visit the initiative website. I am excited to continue making progress and providing
all of you with updates on this transformative initiative in the coming year.