Mescalero Artist, Artwork Featured in Ceremony
ENMU-Ruidoso Foundation Unveils Mescalero Art Project April 21
ENMU-Ruidoso Foundation set to unveil the commissioned Mescalero Fashion Art Project designed and created by Lindsey Renea Shakespeare on Tuesday, April 21, at 5:30 p.m. at ENMU-Ruidoso, 709 Mechem Drive, Ruidoso.
Refreshments will be provided by the Ruidoso High School Teepee Lounge and the ENMU-Ruidoso Culinary Arts students. Music will be provided by Jeronico Chee. The life-sized artwork will be on permanent display at ENMU-Ruidoso.
“The ENMU-Ruidoso Foundation exists to raise funds to support ENMU-Ruidoso students through scholarships, technology, emergency funds, and academic and athletic program support. By commissioning this artwork and it being permanently on display at the college, our hope is that our Native American students feel a sense of belonging when they come to campus,” said ENMU-Ruidoso Foundation Director Rochelle Lentschke.
At the unveiling ceremony, Shakespeare will introduce and discuss her artwork in detail. Lentschke and Shakespeare are working with Alan Lefebvre, owner of Best Film & Video, and ENMU-Ruidoso students to produce an educational video of the project that will eventually be displayed so campus visitors can learn not only about the artwork, but also about the Mescalero Apache cultural practice of the Coming-of-Age ceremony.
Lindsey Renea Shakespeare is originally from Three Rivers, N.M. (Indian Creek). Shakespeare is an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache tribe from Mescalero, N.M. She also represents the following tribes: Comanche, Kiowa-Apache, and Northern Arapaho from Wyoming. Shakespeare is a great-great-granddaughter of Shanta Boy from Indian Creek. She is the granddaughter to the late Bataan Death March survivor Bruce Klinekole I and the late Virginia Klinekole (First Woman President of the Mescalero Apache Tribe). Shakespeare is a daughter to Gina Klinekole and a sister to DeAnna Shakespeare. She is a proud aunt to two nieces and a nephew.
Shakespeare received her Associate of Fine Arts degree from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe in 2001. In 2005, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
She is a 20-year resident of Ruidoso and has participated in SWAIA: Santa Fe Indian Market for 17 years. She has traveled to Los Angeles, Calif., for the Autry Marketplace Art Show for nine years. Eiteljorg Museum Art Show in Indianapolis, Ind., for two years. Cherokee Art Market in Catoosa, Okla., for five years. After 10 years of participating in the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market in Phoenix, Ariz., she brought home a second-place ribbon for her soft sculpture, Dolls in the Diverse Art Form Division, during the pandemic: Covid-19. The Guild offered artisans the choice: mail or hand-deliver their artwork for the Art Competition. With the unbelievably of being able to go somewhere, “actually travel” during the pandemic. Shakespeare chose to travel, wear a mask, and actually hand-deliver in person in March 2021.
Shakespeare is a photographer, a soft sculpture artist, writer, dressmaker, moccasin maker, printmaker, and participates in and travels to juried Native American Art Shows.
To learn more about the ENMU-Ruidoso Foundation and how you can support the students, contact Lentschke at 575-315-1216 or visit the ENMU-Ruidoso Foundation website at https://ruidoso.enmu.edu/foundation/.
