A two-year grant through Creatives Rebuild New York that placed two artists in residence at SUNY Jamestown Community College is near its conclusion.
According to Jessica Kubiak, interim vice president of Academic Affairs at SUNY JCC, the work artist Kaycee Colburn has shared with the college during the grant’s duration has been “varied and voluminous.”
“She’s spent this time developing as a public artist and really grappling with what it means to be, in the words of CRNY, a culture bearer, and this can be a complicated pair of efforts to work on at the same time.” Kubiak said. “It’s been a whirlwind of activity and emotion in general, and for JCC it’s meant being a part of artists’ lives, hopefully in several ways — as a supportive home base, a catalyst for growth, and as a partner.”
Colburn is a native of Jamestown and shared her Seneca culture through beading and cornhusk doll workshops on campus, produced enough art for two solo exhibitions, collaborated with Roger Tory Peterson Institute, and organized a flag raising with the City of Jamestown to bring awareness of indigenous culture to the area.
“The flag raising and the healing that brought not just to the community, but to my mom personally really stands out to me,” Colburn shared. “Seeing her feel safe in her own skin, because she’s had to deal with a lot of lateral racism, and have her actually feel like it’s OK to be seen and stand in the strength of that I think is why I set out to do all of this.”
Colburn gave an artist talk at Roger Tory Peterson Institute that produced another standout moment.
“I met an elder who used to make baskets with sweet grass using a technique she learned from Twylah Nitsch, who was essentially a medicine woman,” Colburn shared. “She hadn’t touched sweet grass in a long time because it wasn’t available, so I gave her a piece I had on my dashboard and she cried. It sits in my brain that this is something that needs to change.”
There have been an abundance of growth opportunities in the last two years. In addition to teaching and sharing her culture, Colburn has been a dean’s list student every semester at JCC, and made a run for political office.
“As an artist I’ve had a lot of growth, and definitely as a teacher,” Colburn said. “I’ve worked with students who have autism and other disabilities and I’ve really had to be open minded as to what was going to work for different students. We all have different needs. I saw one student months after he participated in a workshop and he was so excited to tell me he still had his cornhusk doll. It’s been a very rewarding experience.”
Colburn’s latest project will continue her work beyond the conclusion of the CRNY grant, which was designed to support employment opportunities for artists and funded collaborations between community-based organizations, municipalities, and tribal governments across New York State. Her work in this program became a springboard for KayCo, an art and cultural center Colburn opened in February in Jamestown.
“KayCo was never a dream of mine, as much as it was a vision,” Colburn said. “I always knew there was a large cultural gap and now I have an opportunity to do something about that.”
KayCo is located at 20 West Third St. in Jamestown. The space includes a room dedicated to her flag-raising event, a main gallery that features Colburn’s digital work, and a space that holds her works that delve into the paranormal.
Having seen first hand the benefits of having artists like Colburn on campus, Kubiak hopes groups like CRNY continue to create opportunities like the artist in residence program.
“I’ve been so honored to be one of many Kaycee has worked with to start developing the next phase of her career through KayCo, and other efforts at making room for local indigenous people to explore and express their varied identities,” Kubiak said. “Doing such work is especially critical for people whose identities aren’t reflected in established arts, media, and cultural spaces, and I’m grateful to her for prioritizing this.”
Colburn said the space will allow her to continue doing workshops like she has at JCC and in the community. KayCo is open from noon - 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, and 2-6 p.m. the first Saturday of each month.
“The hours are a little weird while I transition from full-time artist and part-time student, to being able to put my full focus into KayCo,” Colburn said. “I plan to hold scheduled events, and anyone can request to schedule any sort of event from a sip-and-paint to a more educational, cultural workshop.”
Colburn said a website is being developed and the center has a Facebook page.