Nanibah Chacon facts for kids

Nanibah "Nani" Chacon (born 1980) is an amazing Diné (Navajo) and Chicana painter, muralist, and art teacher. Her art has been shown in many cool places. These include the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe and the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock. Her work has also been seen at the ISEA International Arts and Technology Symposium and in the "Que Chola" Exhibition in Albuquerque.

Nanibah Chacon's Early Life

Nanibah Chacon was born in Gallup, New Mexico. She grew up in Chinle, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

How Nanibah Chacon Creates Art

When Chacon was 15, she first got into street art and graffiti. For 10 years, she created street art. After that, she started making large painted murals. She then joined a group called Honor the Treaties. This group creates art about the rights of Native peoples and land issues.

Nanibah Chacon's Art Career

Important Murals and Exhibitions

In 2012, the City of Albuquerque asked Chacon to create a mural. This mural, called She Taught Us to Weave, was for the ISEA International Arts and Technology Symposium. It is part of the Wells Park Rail Corridor Mural Project. This special mural even has a small radio inside it! The radio sends out the words, Hozho naahaslii. This is a Navajo phrase that means "the true value of living beautifully."

In 2013, Chacon's mural, Against The Storm She Gathers Her Thoughts, became the first mural ever shown at the Navajo Nation Museum. It was part of an exhibit called Ch'ikééh Baa Hózhǫ. Also in 2013, her artwork Na iiz Nah was chosen for an Indigenous art magazine called Ziindi. That same year, Chacon's piece Manifestations of Glittering World was part of an exhibit. This exhibit was called Stands With A Fist: Contemporary Native Women Artists. It was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Chacon was also part of the 19th Young Latino Artists Exhibition. This show was titled Y, Que?. In the same year, she was the main artist speaker at a conference. This event at Northern New Mexico College was called Mapping Geographies of Self: Woman as First Environment.

Large-Scale Projects and International Art

In 2015, Chacon was the main artist for the biggest mural in Albuquerque. This huge artwork is called Resilience. For this project, she worked with a youth arts group called Working Classroom. She also teamed up with many students from Washington Middle School in Albuquerque. That year, she also finished a mural on a wall in Izhevsk, Russia.

Chacon's art was featured in the Code Mixing: From Concrete to Canvas Exhibition. This show was at Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) in San Jose, California in 2016. In 2017, she created and installed a powerful artwork called Sing Our Rivers Red. This piece honored over 1,000 Indigenous Canadian women and girls. They had been reported missing or killed since 1980. The artwork was shown at the CHAC Gallery in Denver, Colorado. It was part of the Sing Our Rivers Red March.

In the summer of 2017, Chacon worked with young people from Española. Together, they completed the mural The River Flows Through It. This mural is at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. It shows the many different ways people create textiles in Northern New Mexico. It includes parts that represent Navajo, Pueblo, and Spanish fiber art styles.

Artist-in-Residence Programs

In fall 2018, Chacon took part in a special program. It was the Michigan State University Womxn of Color Initiative Artist-in-Residence. This program helps students connect with women of color. Estrella Torrez, a professor and organizer, said that Nanibah Chacon is a very important muralist today. She creates beautiful art that also shares important stories. Her paintings highlight the experiences of Indigenous women and their knowledge.

She has also been a visiting artist at Washington State University. There, she created another mural installation.

Nanibah Chacon's Personal Life

Chacon lives in Albuquerque with her son. Her brother, Raven Chacon, is also a well-known sound artist.