Niwot mural artist Danielle SeeWalker

This is the first in a series of stories on the four artists painting walls in the Cottonwood Shopping Center-Jerry Sinor Building mural project.

Artist, activist and author Danielle SeeWalker's mural is striking, colorful, compelling, and nearly the size of a standard billboard. It took SeeWalker four full days in 90+ degree heat, and additional hours here and there to complete the 495 square-foot mural she's named "What Once Was." It beautifies the southern exterior wall of Abo's Pizza, next to Chico's Grooming in the Cottonwood Square Shopping Center, and was completed as the first of four murals in the project.

Alex Chlebek and his mother Maria Biernat, owners of MAC Management Cottonwood LLC, are the proprietors of Cottonwood Square Shopping Center. Chlebek recalled Tony Santelli, the former president of the Niwot Business Association (NBA), bringing up the idea of installing murals at the center shortly after he'd purchased the property three years ago. The mural notion came up a few more times after that, so as an avid appreciator of Native American art, honoring the Arapaho people who originally lived in Niwot became an idea Chlebek could get behind, and he put the wheels in motion in 2021.

Cottonwood Square Shopping Center property manager Rico Espinosa was instrumental in finding mural artists for the project by reaching out to Street Wise Arts (SWA). Most of the murals popping up in the city of Boulder can be attributed to a connection with SWA which was founded in 2020 by Leah Brenner Clack, its executive director.

SWA's mission is to create public mural art, offer community art events, and provide youth art education. The organization underscores social justice issues, amplifies diversity in the community, and initiates conversations on topics like conservation and cultural heritage. The nonprofit organization advocates for artists, especially those who are underrepresented in the art world, such as women and people of color.

Last year, Brenner Clack met with Espinosa, Chlebek, and Bruce Warren, one of the owners of the adjacent Jerry Sinor Building. They walked around the retail-office center, decided on the walls to paint, and Brenner Clack heard what the objectives were for the project.

"In talking with the organizers of this project, it was really important to them to highlight the history of Niwot, to give acknowledgement and respect, and to celebrate the indigenous history of the area and Chief Niwot in particular," said Brenner Clark, which led to her reaching out to four indigenous artists to create the murals.

The project price for all four murals is $13,000. Warren is credited with leading the effort to request Local Improvement District (Niwot sales tax) funding, which resulted in 75% of the project cost being covered by the LID. The Niwot Business Association and the Niwot Cultural Arts Association will fund up to $500 each and the balance will be covered by MAC Management LLC and the owners of the Jerry Sinor Building. The majority of the money will go to the artists, with a small administrative fee going to SWA. The NBA and the NCAA will receive a 10-year easement from the property owners to insure preservation of the murals.

SeeWalker said working with Alex Chlebek to finalize her mural design was a smooth process. He requested that the piece be native inspired, and include water, mountains, and animals.

SeeWalker's concept is based on a historical northern plains style called Ledger Art, which is bold and simplistic, and the features of each person depicted are left out "because it wasn't about the art itself. It's more about what's happening. It was our way of storytelling and documenting history," SeeWalker said.

Traditionally, indigenous art had been created on animal hides, SeeWalker explained. But when the government took away hunting rights and native people were forced to live on reservations without their customary resources, ledger books from traders and the food rations the government supplied, were ingeniously used as a canvas for telling stories through drawings.

In SeeWalker's painting, the figures include a girl wearing a ribbon skirt sitting atop a buffalo. Ribbon skirts, a tradition for Plains tribes' women, were made out of cloth they traded with European settlers for, and are still used as ceremonial wear.

Another young girl and a woman in the scene are wearing elk teeth dresses, a heavy cloth dress adorned with elk teeth often used in regalia and powwow events in present day. The Chief in the scene is painted with more contemporary clothing, wearing a western style shirt, wrapping himself in a blanket instead of a hide, intended to represent the transition to colonialism.

A land acknowledgement plaque will be installed on the wall to inform the viewers that they're standing on land that was originally cared for by the Arapaho people.

"It's my own history," SeeWalker said. "My own grandma grew up speaking only Lakota, and in a very traditional way, and wearing traditional clothing, and then she was a boarding school student and she was forced to go through those changes. For so many of my peers and friends, it's their family story too." This sad and too-often unrepresented history is what SeeWalker seeks to explain through her artwork.

Growing up, SeeWalker's father was very vocal about Native American rights and that foundation instilled in her the desire to make a difference through her art as well as through activism.

Self-taught as an artist, SeeWalker said, "Art is my life and it's always been a huge part of my life since forever. I think it's very innate. My dad was a very talented artist. His siblings were. I just come from a family that has that natural talent. " But it wasn't until five years ago that she started to share her talent with the public.

"Art has been very much like a diary. It's very personal to me, so it's so vulnerable for me to show anybody," SeeWalker said. With the encouragement of friends she'd made in the local Denver art community, she felt more confident and began to paint murals and to put her pieces in art shows.

SeeWalker created her first mural just two years ago. "We were all going through a crazy time in 2020 and I just thought, 'why not?' It was so exhilarating, scary, but so addicting and fun....I've probably done more than 20 murals since then."

She's organizing a mural festival to take place this August on the North Dakota reservation she's from, the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. SeeWalker is part of the core team of Denver's Babe Walls, an organization that provides support and space for women and non-binary individuals to allow them to create murals. The festival in North Dakota is an extension of her involvement with Babe Walls, and will give people the opportunity to create 12 walls in four days in various places on the reservation. The intent is to mentor and jumpstart other artists in the world of public art.

There are different techniques to "move" a painting from creation to a wall, and SeeWalker said she finds the most efficient way for her to start is using a drawing tool program called Procreate on her ipad. She sketches her artwork onto an uploaded image of the wall. When it's dark enough, she projects the scene on the wall, outlines it, and then fills in the image with paint.

Chlebek explained that imperfections are often intentionally left in Native American art, "to show that man is not perfect, only God is." He pointed out a paint drip on the buffalo which SeeWalker revealed was the flaw she'd left.

SeeWalker is the co-chair of the Denver American Indian Commission, having been appointed by the Denver mayor in 2019. In this capacity she advocates for and is a liaison between the native community and the city and county. SeeWalker's role helps the native community speak up and assists the government in understanding what is of importance to the indigenous community.

Her work in this arena has led to lawmaking as she works closely with Senator Jessie Danielson on such actions as the Mascot Bill passed in 2021, which prohibits the use of American Indian mascots for schools, and a bill signed this month by Governor Jared Polis called the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Bill, which will bring about a liaison office in the department of public safety.

SeeWalker is mom to two sons, ages 12 and 14, and her day job is managing Michelin's federal government business. She's authored a book titled "Still Here: A Past to Present Insight of Native American People & Culture" published in 2020.

"This shopping center is unique because it's more of a community thing." Chlebek said. Everyday life in this small town brings shoppers to the center on a regular basis. Speaking to SeeWalker's completed mural, he said, "I hope they enjoy it, have coffee or lunch here and maybe even use it to promote the town a little bit."

Brenner Clack said, "With all of our projects, we hope that noticing the art and its beauty is the first step. A longer process of understanding who created the art, what the art is about and, especially for this project, I think it's so important that we as human beings acknowledge that we're not the first ones to inhabit this land and that the Native American people were forcibly removed in most circumstances. Obviously, there's a lot of healing to do. It hopefully will open the door for people to learn more."

To learn more about her art and the multitude of ways in which Danielle SeeWalker is making a difference, visit http://www.seewalker.com. To learn more about Street Wise Arts, the upcoming mural festival (September 28-October 2), or to donate, visit http://www.StreetWiseArts.org.