Alex Jacobs facts for kids

Alex Jacobs (born in 1953), also known as Karoniaktatie, is a talented artist, poet, and radio host from the Akwesasne community. He is part of a poetry group called Ikkwenyes with January Rogers. They even made a poetry CD together called Got Your Back. You can find his amazing artwork in places like the American Indian Archaeological Institute.

Alex Jacobs: Early Life and Career

Alex Jacobs went to Manitou Community College in LaMacaza, Quebec. He earned a degree from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. He also studied at the Alfred College of Ceramics for a summer. Later, he graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute. There, he earned a degree in both Sculpture and Creative Writing.

Working in Media and Community

Jacobs worked for the Mohawk Nation newspaper from 1972 to 1974. He was a poetry editor for Akwesasne Notes, an international Native journal. From 1983 to 1986, he was a co-editor for the same journal. He helped start a community newspaper called Indian Time. He also co-founded Akwekon, a journal about Native arts. He co-edited Akwekon from 1985 to 1986.

Alex Jacobs has also had a long career in radio. He has worked at CKON-FM, which is Mohawk Nation Radio. His roles there included DJ, talk show host, news director, and program director. He also served as an assistant station manager.

Teaching and Artistry

He taught art and poetry at the Akwesasne Freedom School. He was also an artist-in-residence at the Akwesasne Museum. His art shows his thoughts on both ideal and real life. He explores what it means to be Indigenous. He also looks at how Indigenous identity is created. As a Mohawk person, his land crosses the Canada and U.S. border. This makes him think about how borders can seem meaningless.

Alex Jacobs: Poetry and Performances

Alex Jacobs has published two collections of his poetry. His first book, Landscape: Old and New Poems, came out in 1984. Blue Cloud Quarterly Press published it. His second book, Loving... in the Reagan Era, was released in the 1990s. This book is inspired by the Beat Generation style. It shares his personal stories and thoughts on society during the 1980s. Jacobs wrote about his work at a power plant and his children. He also wrote about Indigenous people and government policies of the time. He explored what the "American Dream" truly meant. His poems share his own experiences and offer a look at culture.

In 1979, Jacobs performed with an art group called Tribal Dada. This group included other artists from Santa Fe. They performed at the Kansas City Art Institute. The group wanted to start a new art movement in Santa Fe. They also performed again in 1992. Through their performances, Tribal Dada tried to share what Jacobs calls "Indian thinking." This includes Indigenous concepts and ways of thinking.

Alex Jacobs: Visual Art

Todd Moe has said that Jacobs' art is similar to decoupage. Decoupage is an art form where you cut and glue paper or fabric. Jacobs uses fabric that belonged to his mother and grandmother. Both of them were quilt makers. He cuts these fabrics, then glues and varnishes them together. This creates a type of collage.

In his early days, Jacobs also used other materials for his art. These included his mother's calico fabric scraps. He also used cigarette packaging and butter wrappers. He created mixed media art collages. These collages were portraits of Native peoples. He made them to challenge common pop culture images and stereotypes.