VIRTUAL- Digital artist talk: “The Current State” by Thomas Breeze Marcus (Tohono O’odham Nation)

Travois is a Certified B Corporation focused exclusively on promoting affordable housing and economic development in Native communities. Since 2017, Travois has opened its Kansas City, Mo., office to host Indigenous artists as part of the city’s First Fridays art events. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Travois First Fridays exhibition series has been changed to a digital experience. The digital format provides an opportunity for audience participation outside of Kansas City. Find more information on the Travois website: travois.com/news-events/first-fridays/. Tune in Friday, Sept. 4, at 1-2 p.m. (CST) for a live digital artist talk from artist Thomas “Breeze” Marcus as he broadcasts from the Arizona Heritage Center. Breeze will showcase an ongoing and eye-opening art series created to foster a dialog about the border wall, desecration of sacred sites, and how the U.S.-Mexico border militarization is affecting a southern Arizona Native American community, the Tohono O’odham Nation. Breeze will also discuss his canvas and large-scale mural work, process and the inspiration behind his art. He will present pieces from an exhibition currently showing in Phoenix and other pieces on canvas that talk to the duality of everyday issues among the Tohono and Akimel O’odham tribes of Arizona. Register for Breeze’s digital artist talk: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fS4abGdnRlanThsm6HHNfg Thomas Breeze Marcus, commonly referred to as “Breeze,” is a full-time artist based in Phoenix. He is a painter with over two decades of large scale mural and public art experience. His personal work showcases a tightly interwoven and complex composition of patterns. Breeze developed the line work out of his experience as a graffiti writer and inspiration from his native cultures — most notable, the intricate woven basket patterns and cultures of the Tohono O’odham and Akimel O’odham Tribes. Breeze pushes the boundaries with his compositions. He moves in a forward direction but maintains awareness of the surrounding environment, personal identity and experience, human behavior, social issues and all things beyond the human view. Breeze is also an arts educator working with youth in the Salt River community, and has  performed multiple artist presentations, projects and workshops on murals, street art and graffiti at museums such as the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz.; the Field Museum of Chicago, Ill.; and several other institutions throughout the country. Find more of Breeze’s work on Instagram @breeze1phx.