Events and Exhibits
The Center for the American West hosts a number of public events and exhibits every year. On this page, you can check out our upcoming events and exhibits; watch videos from past events, and sign up for our newsletter to stay in the know.
Upcoming Events
On September 30th, the C4AW will host an exhibit opening for the ĢӰ Boulder campus Culture Crawl. In partnership with the Macky Auditorium Gallery, the exhibit will span from the first floor gallery to the second floor C4AW offices. Artists will be on site to lead gallery tours and lunch from Tocabe will be available to the first 50 guests. To learn more, read on:
Never Vanishing: Reclaiming Indigenous Relatives, Landscapes, and Resilience in the American Southwest features commissioned works from three local Indigenous artists — JayCee Beyale, Chelsea Kaiah, and Kristina Maldonado Bad Hand — who seek to challenge the persistent myths of the American West, especially as they emerged from the work of author and filmmaker Zane Grey.
In the early 20th century, novelist Zane Grey wrote prolifically about the American Southwest, depicting it as a romantic, barren landscape ripe for exploration and adventure. Eventually turning his novels into films, Grey’s work further perpetuated ideas of Native people as “vanishing” with the arrival of American settlers. Now in response, exhibiting artists Beyale, Kaiah, and Maldonado Bad Hand offer contemporary works that seek to reclaim relatives, landscapes, and the pressing concerns of Indigenous communities in the Southwest from the mystique Grey built around them. In doing so, the original artworks in Never Vanishing highlight Native survival, creativity, and resilience.
JayCee Beyale (Diné) is a Denver-based multidisciplinary artist and muralist originally from the Four Corners region of New Mexico, where he developed a deep
connection to his cultural roots. He holds a BFA in printmaking from the University of New Mexico.
Beyale’s practice is firmly grounded in his Indigenous heritage, with identity, lineage and cultural continuity serving as its foundation. Drawing from the geometric precision of traditional Navajo rug weaving, sandpainting and silversmithing, he reinterprets these forms through a refined contemporary lens, creating compositions that evoke the interconnectedness of all living systems.
Emerging from a background in street art and graffiti, Beyale continues to employ spray paint and acrylics to explore the dynamic intersection of Indigenous culture and modern technology. His recent expansion into multimedia—incorporating projection, LED elements and a synthesis of natural and industrial materials—further amplifies a compelling dialogue between tradition and innovation.
Deeply influenced by music and informed by both Indigenous philosophies and Buddhist practice, Beyale’s work articulates a resonant visual language centered on the enduring principles of movement, unity and impermanence.
Chelsea Kaiah (White River Ute and White Mountain Apache) is a multidisciplinary artist engaged in sculpture and community-centered practices. Born on the Northern Ute reservation, she is deeply committed to material exploration, with a creative process rooted in making her own materials as an integral part of her work. Her practice is guided by sustainable ethics and the labor required to uphold traditional craft processes such as beadwork, quillwork, and hide work. She views her materials as sentient collaborators rather than passive tools. When treated with care and intention, they respond in kind, revealing forms and stories that emerge identity, history, and family.
Chelsea earned her BFA at Watkins College of Art and Design in Nashville, Tennessee. She currently resides in Denver, Co. In 2025, Kaiah was awarded The Social Impact Award from Bonfil’s Stanton and Denver Arts & Venue that supports working artists in the Denver Metro, part of the award was dedicated to make a hide camp for the local community. She currently serves as part of the Indigenous Advisory Council for the Denver Art Museum after being their fall 2022 Native Arts Artist in Residence. She is currently developing her public art portfolio in locations Westminster and Breckenridge.
Kristina Maldonado Bad Hand (Sicangu Lakota and Cherokee) bridges art, community, and cultural resurgence. As the Executive Art Director of Create áyA and founder of áyA Con, ĢӰ's Indigenous Comic & Art Festival, she has built platforms that elevate Native artists, storytellers, and designers across the Denver area and beyond. Her leadership blends curatorial expertise with community-centered organizing, resulting in immersive events such as the Black Light Powwow and áyA Con’s fashion showcase, spaces where Indigenous futurism, tradition, and creativity meet. Kristina’s work reflects a commitment to visibility, representation, and the celebration of Indigenous excellence in contemporary media and art.
A multidisciplinary artist herself, Kristina’s practice spans illustration, design, and cultural programming, often highlighting themes of identity, empowerment, and narrative reclamation. Through her work, Kristina continues to expand opportunities for Indigenous creatives while shaping a vibrant, future-facing cultural landscape rooted in community, storytelling, and artistic innovation.
Past Events
(Event video available, click on image above)
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(Event video available, click on image above)
