Kenneth Johnson (Muscogee/Seminole), Chair

Kenneth Johnson is a contemporary Muscogee/Seminole jeweler and bronze sculptor living in Santa Fe. He transforms copper, silver, gold, platinum, and palladium into wearable art in his downtown Santa Fe studio. Johnson’s work was recently worn at the Grammys in October by Reservoir Dog’s director Sterlin Harjo who rocked a signature silver Woodpecker gorget necklace while presenting awards. He has created custom jewelry for notables such as U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonja Sotomayor, Canadian Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, and British House of Lords Baroness Emma Nicholson. His professional service includes teaching jewelry workshops for the Creek Council House Museum, SWAIA board of directors Co-chair; and Council of Artists chair where he represented the interests of over 1000 artists to that board.

Laurence A. G. Moss, Vice Chair

Laurence was raised in western Canada and has lived and worked in North America, Pacific Asia, and Central Europe. Santa Fe has been his North American base for four decades. He is a steward of indigenous art, especially Pacific Asian and North American, and has worked with a number of art and cultural institutions globally.

After a B.A. degree in Asian studies and political economy at the University of British Columbia, he undertook graduate studies in Asian art and environmental design, cultural anthropology, ecological economics, and urban and regional planning at the University of California, Berkeley (MCP, MA, Ph.D.), and Keio University and the Advanced Center for Japanese Studies, Tokyo. In his praxis and teaching, he focuses on equity and cultural and environmental sustainability in mountain regions.

Vanessa Elmore (Colombian-American), Secretary

Vanessa is a professional art appraiser, advisor, and collections manager specializing in the Art of the Americas, and holds a Master of Arts degree in Art History from the University of New Mexico. Based in Santa Fe, she has been in the art industry for over twenty years and has handled countless artworks spanning ancient history to now. Prior to starting her appraisal business, Vanessa held long-term positions at Morning Star Gallery (Nedra Matteucci Galleries) and Blue Rain Gallery. Most importantly, Vanessa had a long friendship and professional relationship with the founder, Ted Coe and his family, and because of that, she is very familiar with the Coe Center’s art collection and takes this stewardship with the utmost respect and honor.

Randy J. Brokeshoulder, Director

Randy J. Brokeshoulder is of Hopi, Navajo, and Absentee Shawnee heritage. He is a third-generation katsina carver and the great-grandson to Guy Maktima of Hotevilla—Third Mesa, Arizona. He currently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as a finance banker and artist.

Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (Dakota/Nakoda), Ph.D., Director

Haŋ mitakuyapi. Suŋgina Duzaham Wiŋyan emakiapi. Mnisda Wakiyaŋ Iŋga tiwahe etaŋhaŋ ouhepi. Damakoda nakun Nakoda, de Tatanka Oyate. Cante waste yuha, ciyuzihapi. (Greetings our relatives. My name is Jessa Rae Growing Thunder. The Growing Thunder family comes from Bald Water Place. I am Dakota and Nakoda, from the Buffalo Nation. I shake all of your hands with a good heart.) I come from a family who has raised me to uphold our Oceti Sakowin values; to have compassion for others, to know and honor family, and to be humble yet brave. Who I am is justified by the deep roots of my family; I am a product of my grandmothers. My unci (Dakota for “maternal grandmother”), Joyce, was born and raised on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. Her grandmother, Josephine, taught her the importance of being a woman through ceremonies, cooking, beadwork, and quillwork; and in turn, my unci taught these knowledges to my ina (Dakota for “mother”), and eventually myself. The foundation of who I am as a young Dakota/Nakoda woman, is my identity as a third-generation traditional beadworker and quillworker. My life’s work strives to guarantee the perseverance and survival of these traditional knowledges and the wealth of opportunity they provide. Over the years I have focused my time and energy on fulfilling positions that have the potential to provide positive experiences for our communities. In 2012-2013 I had the honor of serving as Miss Indian World, in which I traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada focusing my efforts on the promotion of cultural preservation programs. In the summer of 2014, I held the privilege of being a liaison for the U.S. State Department. I traveled across the country of Ecuador, with three associates, creating dialogues with Quechua peoples regarding ancestral technologies and preservation. In June 2017, I was honored to be a guest instructor at the Oscar Howe.

William “Will” Wilson (Diné/Irish, Welsh), Director

Will Wilson is a Diné photographer who spent his formative years living in the Navajo Nation. Wilson studied photography at the University of New Mexico and Oberlin College. Wilson has held visiting professorships at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Oberlin College, and the University of Arizona. Wilson managed the National Vision Project, a Ford Foundation-funded initiative at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, and helped to coordinate the New Mexico Arts Temporary Installations Made for the Environment (TIME) program on the Navajo Nation. Wilson is part of the Science and Arts Research Collaborative and has had numerous exhibitions and artist residencies.

Santa Fe Mayor Alan M. Webber, Honorary Board Director