Good Medicine Creative Opens Cultural Art Studio!

By Tami Watt, CRNY Artist | Photos by Seneca Media

Pictured above: Ribbon Cutting (L to R): Maurice John, Jr., Cliff Redeye, Brett Maybee, Patrick Redeye, Hilton Johnny-John, Hayden Haynes, Councillor Tina Abrams, Leeora White, Jocelyn Jones, Penny Minner, Karlene Familo.

The Good Medicine Creatives studio is officially open four days a week! From Wednesday through Sunday, an artist from our group will be present either working on a project, discussing upcoming events, or available to give you a tour and brief description on how we intend to utilize our workspace.

On July 28th, we held a well-attended grand opening at our new site at 215 Broad Street in Salamanca, NY, in the former WGWE building on Ohi:yo’ territory. White Pine Dance group hosted a show/social, Animal Abrams catered a delicious meal and our artists were able to introduce ourselves and our work to the community.

Moving forward, Good Medicine Creatives intends to hold workshops, demonstrations, vendor days and cultural events on-site. Be on the lookout for leather tooling workshops and demonstrations from Cliff Redeye, sewing classes with Karlene Familo, social dances and rattle and headdress making with Hilton Johnny-John, storytelling with Leeora White, or corn husk classes with Penelope Minner are among the many activities we hope to share with the community.

Calling all artists! Good Medicine Creatives also intends to share our studio to other artists seeking a space to work or host a workshop and/or demonstration. We invite anyone interested in working in our studio to come to a meeting on August 22nd at 6pm at the Good Medicine Creatives studio. Our goal is to keep art, culture, and traditions alive and well within our community. Our studio will serve as a drug and alcohol-free safe space for all to enjoy, learn, and grow art. Please fill out one of our forms if you are an artist interested in working in our space, hosting a workshop, or want to be a part of our vendor markets.

Good Medicine Creatives is part of the Employment Artist Program under the Creative Rebuilds New York award which is a 2-year program that funds employment for 300 artists working in collaboration with community-based organizations across New York State. The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum is the community-based organization that receives funds to support their collaboration with these artists.

Your ten local professionals include Karlene Familo, Maurice John Jr., Hilton Johnny-John, Jocelyn Jones, Brett Maybee, Penelope Minner, Cliff Redeye, Patrick Redeye, Tami Watt, and Leeora White. Each artist practices their own art form in collaborations with the museum, each other, and participants through our workshops and demonstrations. We are artists dedicated to developing our practices, creative businesses, participating in exhibitions, and having our work displayed in art shows and public outlets.

Over the past year, our artists have been invited to perform, teach, and demonstrate at various schools, museums, and libraries. A few of us have been accepted to elite Indigenous art shows across Turtle Island. We have also had our work displayed publicly, sold at many vendor markets, and gained valuable connections, insights, and ideas. We have met with other CRNY artists and traveled to other museums. This past year has prepared us and led us to our goal of opening a cultural art space that we are excited to share!

Please check out our website https://www.goodmedicinecreatives.com/, find us on Instagram or Facebook. For inquiries with each artist please contact them directly via social media or directly through their contact information on our website.