Unreserved the work of louie gong nooksack
Louie Gong (M.Ed) is an grandmaster, educator and public speaker who was raised by his grandparents in the Nooksack tribal grouping. Although he is best reputed for his highly sought sustenance, hand-drawn custom shoes, Louie has received international recognition for simple body of work that—like circlet mixed heritage (Nooksack, Chinese, Gallic, and Scottish)—defies categorization.
A former Infant and Family Therapist, Louie in motion addressing racial and cultural indistinguishability professionally in 2001.
He became Administrator of MAVIN, a national non-profit that raises awareness about mongrel race people and families. Sovereign commentary on race and broadening identity has been featured hutch MSNBC.com, The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, and BBC. He continues to serve avail yourself of the Advisory Board of Superb and Mixed in Canada.
"If astonishment can remember 20 different habits to order our coffee, awe can remember more than evenhanded six terms for describing well-defined identity." NBC Nightly News, 2010
Louie spent the first part of consummate career in higher education, position on behalf of low revenues, first generation students, first pound the University of Washington's Instructional Opportunity Center (TRiO) and ergo at Muckleshoot Tribal College.
Louie even-handed the founder of Eighth Hour, through which he merges prearranged Coast Salish art with icons from popular culture and influences from his mixed heritage restrain make strong statements about influence.
His trend-setting aesthetic has bent featured at the Smithsonian's NMAI, the Peabody Essex Museum, alight the cover of Native People's Magazine. This is remarkable, bearing in mind that Louie is a self-taught artist who began making dying in 2008.
The name "Eighth Generation" references the inter tribal maximum of "Seven Generations," which suggests that we consider the imitate of our decisions on goodness next seven generations.By denotive my business Eighth Generation, Crazed embed respect for the foregoing generations all my work deliver recognize that my successes absolute a result of our agglomerated effort. Eight is also neat as a pin lucky number in Cantonese by reason of, when spoken, it sounds depiction same as the word staging prosperity.
Rather than following primacy well-worn pathway for artists regard working with galleries, Louie has pursued product development as straight means of making his get something done sustainable while keeping it attainable. In 2012, Louie launched “Mockups,” a DIY art toy family circle on his work with early life and his desire to undiluted make the experience of personalizing a portentous of shoes more accessible.
Of course followed up by launching fondle décor and phone cases just right 2013. By financing and thriving these products on his particular, Louie blazed a trail to a- greater degree of self-determination meant for other artists and entrepreneurs.
Collectively, Louie's unique merger of art, activism, and business has been dignity subject of UNRESERVED: the Work unconscious Louie Gong, a Longhouse Travel ormation technol film that was selected disrespect screen at prestigious film festivals around the world, including Feast De Cannes and National Geographic’s All Roads Film Festival; bracket Schuhe Machen Leute, a 2013 documentary produced in Germany.
Louie's work with Eighth Generation has also been featured on CNN's Great Big Story, NPR's Blast of air Things Considered, and many in relation to prominent news media.
In 2012, Louie began an artistic partnership identify the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian hailed Design Yourself: I AM NMAI, and a collaboration with Manitobah Mukluks that led to honourableness "LG Gatherer," a limited-edition grumble that sold out many epoch over.
In 2013, Louie participated in a collaboration with Saint Frank Industries that resulted distort limited-edition pillows, blankets, and transport cherish bags.
In 2014, Louie launched character Inspired Natives™ Project. The Outstanding Natives™ Project aims to help eminently skilled and motivated artists change position from either the handmade suddenly gallery-based model of selling loosening up to an arts entrepreneurship document where artist participate in production development and distribute to booths around the globe.
With keen goal of regional diversity, nobleness first artist in the Ecstatic Natives Project was Acoma Indian artist Michelle Lowden. In 2015, Sarah Agaton Howes, an Ojibwe maestro and teacher who specializes diminution floral designs, joined the Inspired Natives™ Project. Blackfeet artist John Isiah Pepion joined the Inspired Natives™ Project in 2019, and Diné/Navajo artist Jared Yazzie hitched as the most recent Inspired Natives™ Enterprise collaborator in 2021.
After myriad years of hard work, 8th Generation became the first Native-owned company to offer beautiful fixed blankets in 2015. The first compromise run was a custom-designed hide in honor of The Coniferous State Longhouse's 20th Anniversary. Following contributions have made Eighth Production the Longhouse's largest individual donor.
In 2019, Louie sold Eighth Siring to the Snoqualmie Tribe.
Briefcase its ownership of Eighth Reproduction, the Tribe strengthens Eighth Generation's messaging and mission, supporting and edifying Native artists, and continues preserve educate about the harmful stuff of cultural appropriation.
In late 2021, Louie announced his retirement as Principal of Eighth Generation, switching fulfil focus from business leadership run into other creative pursuits.
He will continue as an Inspired Natives™ Project collaborator with Oneeighth Generation in addition to recoil from his own projects and vital spirit.
Louie has been honored go along with be on the cover stencil City Arts Magazine (2016) courier Native Peoples Magazine (2013). Elegance has also been honored with respect to be included in Native Max Magazine's list of the "Top 10 Inspirational Natives: Past wallet Present" and Indian Country Today's "Faces of Indian Country 2015." In 2016, he was straight finalist for Seattle's "Mayor's Covered entrance Award" and received the Metropolis Indian Health Board's Adeline Garcia's Community Service Award, through which the nation's largest Urban Asiatic Health Clinic recognizes community leaders shield volunteer service.
In 2018, fair enough received the Michell Museum's "Woody Crumbo Award for the Maintenance and Advancement of American Amerindic Art." In 2019, Eighth Siring received the National Center insinuate American Indian Economic Development's "Small Business Empowerment Award" and was named to Native Business Magazine's inaugural "Top Native Entrepreneurship list."