America, I Sing You Back: Cole Redhorse Jacobson ’17 | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

America, I Sing You Back: Cole Redhorse Jacobson ’17

February 25, 2021
Cole Redhorse Jacobson, "Dakota Calico, Ice," 2020, printed cotton fabric ; Cole Redhorse Jacobson
Cole Redhorse Jacobson

Meet the artists featured in the exhibition America, I Sing You Back.

About Cole Redhorse Jacobson:

I am an enrolled member of the Prairie Island Indian Community, and as Mdewakanton Dakota, my artwork expresses my relationship to our homelands of Minnesota. In 2017 I received a BFA in Fine Arts Studio from MCAD. I work in many different media, including drawing, painting, beading, quilling, and textile work. My primary motivation is working to revitalize traditional artforms that have been lost to Dakota communities, including my own.

In 2018 I was awarded a Minnesota Historical Society’s Native American Artist in Residence, which allowed me to further my research and gave me the space to continue this revitalization work. In addition to the grant, the MNHS acquired pieces for their permanent collection. My work is also included in the Red Cloud Heritage Center and many private collections. In 2020, due to the pandemic, I worked entirely from home and decided to produce fabric with traditional Dakota floral designs for people to create their own regalia or ceremonial clothing. Teton Trade Cloth, which is a wool and craft supply company that produces materials geared towards Native Americans for regalia making, asked me to design a scarf for them to produce and sell to Native people. The final design included floral designs as well as geometric applique designs that are all significant to Isanti Dakota material culture and aesthetic.

Red Bandana by Cole Redhorse Jacobson

 

Covid by Cole Redhorse Jacobson

 

Installation photo by Kyra Nygard.