Gina Adams (born 1965) is an American interdisciplinary artist and activist.

Family

Gina Adams' parents were Philip F. Adams (1937–2002), born in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...

, and Elaine Rose Theriault Adams who lived in

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States, and the oldest incorporated town in Maine. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of ...

. Her family members operated the Kittery Trading Post in the town. Adams has controversially claimed to be of

White Earth Ojibwe The White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, also called the White Earth Nation (, "People from where there is an abundance of white clay"), is a federally recognized Native American band in northwestern Minnesota. The band's land base ...

and

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

descent, providing no proof of these claims. She said that her paternal grandfather lived on the

White Earth Indian Reservation The White Earth Indian Reservation () is home to the White Earth Band, in northwestern Minnesota. It is the largest Indian reservation in the state by land area. The reservation includes all of Mahnomen County, plus parts of Becker and Clea ...

and was removed at age eight to attend

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

, which closed in 1918. Genealogists said that Adams' maternal grandfather "was a white man named Albert Theriault, who was born in Massachusetts to French-Canadian parents." Adams has also said that her great-great-grandfather was Ojibwe chief Wabanquot (1830–1898). The enrollment director of the White Earth Band of the

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is the centralized governmental authority for six Ojibwe bands in Minnesota. The tribe was created on June 18, 1934; the organization and its governmental powers are divided between the tribe, and the individual bands ...

, Shahoon Heisler (White Earth Ojibwe) stated: "We don't have her, or her parent or grandparent, with any links to this tribe.... People are upset because she's been claiming she's a descendant. I can't find any documentation that would link her or her family to White Earth."

Education

Gina Adams earned a BFA from the

Maine College of Art Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) is a Private college, private art school in Portland, Maine. Founded in 1882, Maine College of Art & Design is the oldest arts educational institution in Maine. Roughly 32% of MECA&D students are from Maine. ...

and an MFA from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. According to her website, she studied visual art, curatorial practice, and critical theory.

Career

Adams was a professor at

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...

in Boulder, Colorado, in the visual arts faculty. She joined

Emily Carr University The Emily Carr University of Art and Design (stylized as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and abbreviated as ECU) is a public university of art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1925 as the Vancouver Schoo ...

in August of 2019 as assistant professor, Foundation. Emily Carr hired Adams as part of a cluster hire of Indigenous professors. She resigned from Emily Carr on August 25, 2022. Adams is known for her antique quilt artwork; however, her work spans a wide range of styles, including mediums such as sculpture, ceramics, painting, printmaking, and drawing. Adams's work revolved around broken treaties between the U.S. and

Native American tribes In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in the United States. Modern forms of t ...

. Her artwork has been published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Hyperallergic ''Hyperallergic'' is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinki ...

'', and ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''.

Additional work

Gina's work was also featured in the "March Madness" exhibit in the Meatpacking district of New York. Her work displayed vintage photographs of a girls' basketball team at Osage Boarding School; a school which attempted to assimilate Indigenous children by erasing their Native culture. This school denied children the right to speak their native language, and even denied the right to say their own name.

References

External links

Gina Adams
, official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Gina Living people 1965 births American textile artists American people who self-identify as being of Lakota descent American people who self-identify as being of Ojibwe descent Artists from San Francisco Maine College of Art & Design alumni University of Kansas alumni Naropa University faculty