Storytelling lights the path
of the ancestors for all to see
Our Origin Story
Breaking Barriers by Creating Networks of Support
It was mid 2015, when the idea for IPP came to be at the Western Arts Alliance Conference in Vancouver, BC. I had been working at an organization serving Native artists, where I had come to understand that no matter how much money was granted, it would be almost impossible for them to thrive in the performing arts industry. Contemporary Indigenous performing artists face significant barriers to breaking into touring. It's not uncommon for them to hear things like "you are not Native enough." Conversely, many presenters will not book Indigenous artists because they are "too cultural." I've been told by venues that contemporary Indigenous artists are "too complicated" to book, this is code for your artists do not check a box. Contemporary Native artists challenge antiquated stereotypes of what Native people should look and sound like.
As I stood watching the incredible genius of Native/Indigenous artists at the Indigenous Artists Symposium at WAA, I knew from experience that these artists could have a real chance of breaking into touring if they had someone who could advocate and negotiate industry prejudice. It would require educating and connecting like-minded network of venues and partners together to bring about social change. This would become what is now known Indigenous Performance Productions.
Six months later, we had five clients under my previous company, Walrus Arts Management, an LLC. In 2019, I transitioned to a non-profit, so I could expand our artists services. Soon after, I launched our production program to complement our tour management so we could invite more Indigenous performing artists to partner through our production projects and touring operations.
Today, we stand as a multifaceted organization with an international roster of Indigenous contemporary artists providing consistent outreach, almost 100 shows a year and providing support for over100 Indigenous artists each year at high-profile venues. We have made a difference in the lives of our artists, their communities, and the communities we serve alongside our network of venues, allies, and supporters. We have come a long way together, but this kind of work, the work of social transformation takes time and community, it is the work of many hands - and we have much work to do.
Mission
Indigenous Performance Productions was created with the mission to produce, promote, present, manage and advance education around Indigenous performing arts and artists.
Vision
Indigenous Performance Productions was founded on the vision to create equity and opportunity for Indigenous performing artists by providing opportunity to amplify stories through live performances.
How We do It
We are a booking and production agency. Yes, that is what we do. But how we do it is through connecting communities through enduring relationships and mutually beneficial partnerships. We are able to represent a full roster of Indigenous artists and create nationally touring producutions because we have an expansive networks of universites, community centers, funders and individual donars whom believe in our mission and vision and have dedicated themselves to uplfting Indigenous voices alongside us. They are not just venues or non-profit organizations or donars, they are our partners and allies.
Together, we showcase both experienced and known Indigenous artists as well as exceptional emerging Indigenous talent. We also unite Indigenous artists from around the world through all Indigenous cast nationally touring productions centered on issues of importance to Indigenous people. It is through our family of supporters, both big and small, that we have the capacity and honor to do what we do.
Current Network of Funders
Network of Support
Network of Support Venues
Meet The Founder
Andre Bouchard and his Dog Merlin
Kootenai/Ojibwe/Pend d'Oreille/Salish
Andre Bouchard (of Kootenai/Ojibwe/Pend d’Oreille/Flathead Salish descent) is a producer, director, consultant and agent wo was born and raised on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana the son a CSKT enrolled father and a white mother. Andre aspires to serve as an inter-cultural activist, working to build bridges and reverse the invisibility that serves to marginalize Native people in the US.
Meet The Board
brooke smiley
American Indian Wa-zha-zhe (Osage)
Rooting in risk and love, brooke enlivens public art experiences as both diplomacy and education. She re-centers public spaces and who they serve by guiding creative processes with Native and non-Native communities, National Parks, and institutions worldwide. She uplifts the complexity of Contemporary Native Identity across generations through the collaborative creation of embodied earth markers and multisensory dance performances to re-map our worlds.
DeLesslin "Roo" George Warren
Catawba Indian Nation
DeLesslin “Roo” George-Warren is a queer artist, researcher, and organizer from Catawba Indian Nation whose work ranges from performance to installation art to community education to food sovereignty to language revitalization. Since 2017 he has been the Special Projects Coordinator for the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project where he facilitates the Catawba Language Project, several food sovereignty initiatives, and other community education projects.
Linley B. Logan
Onondowaga (People of the Great Hill) aka Seneca
Linley is a multi-disciplinary contemporary visual art, Indigenous arts consultant, cultural arts program manager, and contemporary Indigenous arts curator whose artistic foundation is rooted in his traditional Onondowga (Seneca) culture. Linley is an award-winning artist and is currently a Nia Tero Native Fellowship award recipient, 2020-21. He has over 35-year history of exhibiting his work internationally, co-curating contemporary Indigenous international gatherings, and serving as a lecturer and grant panelist for Indigenous, non-profit and government organizations. Linley has served on numerous state, regional and local arts boards and committees. He currently serves as Washington State Arts Commissioner.
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Stephen Qacung Blanchett
Son of a strong Yup’ik Inuit mother; and a strong African-American father
Stephen Qacung Blanchett is a performing artist, a culture-bearer, and an art and culture educator. Qacung is a founding member of the Alaska Native tribal funk & Inuit soul group, Pamyua. In addition to his nearly 30-year performance career, Qacung has a passion to work for Alaska Native people. He has served in leadership roles with the Alaska Native Heritage Center, First Alaskans Institute, Pamyua Inc., and other arts, culture, and community service entities. He is currently the Cultural Heritage & Education Manager for Tlingit & Haida. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Western Arts Alliance and chairs the Advancing Indigenous Performance program. He also serves as a Board of Directors with the Alaska Humanities Forum. In 2022, Qacung was mentioned as The Kennedy Centers Next 50. This new initiative celebrates cultural leadership with 50 trailblazing leaders and organizations guiding society and the next generation into the future. He is a 2022 United States Artist Fellow and is a recipient of the 2021 Native Arts and Culture Foundation SHIFT- Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts award. He is a 2019 Dance/USA Fellowship recipient, a 2019 & 2016 recipient of the Rasmuson Foundation’s Artist Fellowship, and a 2015 National Artist Fellowship recipient through the Native Artsand Culture Foundation. Qacung is a global citizen whose Indigenous and black roots guide hisleadership and artistic vision.
Indigenous Performance Productions is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
