Red Power

💚 thoughts of a large red woman:

chapter one: interactions

💚 Kris Urbanrezlife Longoria

Berkeley Public Library

Works displayed on second and fifth floors

Ongoing – December 6

Companion works

BPL Street Level Display Window

woman who talks a lot

     Urbanrezlife was born and raised in San Francisco. She is an enrolled citizen of the Caddo nation, is also Cheyenne and Arapaho and a mother, writer, artist and storyteller. As a child, she lived on Alcatraz during the Occupation.

     She has continued her work on Alcatraz for the last two decades, including:

• an exhibition on site from 2019-2025, seen by over five million visitors, and

• currently an extraordinary installation housed on the Island, recording the events from the Occupation. (For more information on the current Alcatraz Island installation, click here.)

Some of Urbanrezlife’s artworks on display, reflect on her life on Alcatraz:

Other works recall her home and family (with an acerbic nod to the concept of the “Big Check” coming from the Bureau of Indian Affairs):

     Meanwhile, she continues working on her art and writing. (It leaves the rest of us looking like we are just hanging out on street corners, smoking and telling tall tales.)

     Kristina Uchida-Rattler, Library Specialist, recalls her first look at Urbanrezlife’s artwork: I remember seeing her art on Alcatraz two years ago during a tour with some other librarians. The canvases were so impactful and stayed with me even after returning to the mainland. They are about her and her life, about history, about the present, about Native land, about activism, and the Bay. To be able to host Urbanrezlife’s first solo show at the Berkeley Public Library is a big deal and I am so happy we are able to bring this to the community. 

      A central part of the Library’s exhibit are several prayer pieces, many created new, exclusively for the Library exhibit. “Over 750 prayer ties were laid for six days straight for the Berkeley libraries and all the great relatives that visit,” explains Urbanrezlife. “I decided to use this turquoise blue [because] I was told by two medicine people prior to this exhibit that I need to make some blue for healing…  All the tobacco and sage used in these pieces were grown by my daughter, son in law and I… beautiful medicine grown in my concrete jungle.”

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

COMPANION ART DISPLAY

Before you enter the Main Library , take time to appreciate the exhibition at street level created by woman who talks a lot – Urbranrezlife’s daughter

LAND ACKNOWLEGEMENT

Berkeley Public Library buildings are built on the territory of Huichin, within the homeland of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people. The Library acknowledges and honors the Ohlone people, who have lived in Berkeley and throughout the East Bay since time immemorial.

     Berkeley Public Library is committed to bringing Native voices, history, authors and representation into library spaces, collections and programming.  Patrons hear the Land Acknowledgement twice daily, in Chochenyo, Spanish and English affirming that commitment. “The most important part of our commitment is the ongoing actions that we take including our programming and special events such as this exhibit,” comments Uchida-Rattler. “The Bay has such an amazing Native community and we want Berkeley Public Library to be a space, a resource, and a collaborator for the community.”

For more information on this exhibition at the Berkeley Public Library, click here.

My thanks to the artists for their insights into these works.