We were lucky to catch up with Jeremy Dennis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jeremy, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?
My name is Jeremy Dennis and I am an indigenous artist and photographer raised on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation at “Ma’s House” in the eastern end of Long Island, New York. At the moment, I am restoring “Ma’s House” to become my future home, work space, future communal art space and BIPOC artist residency.
My grandmother, Loretta Silva, also known as Princess Silva Arrow of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, was affectionately called “Ma” by her children and grandchildren. She passed away in 1998 when I was 8 years old. We still call the home where we lived with her “Ma’s House”, and it was always filled with so much love and warmth, welcoming all who came to visit and spend time with our family.
Ma had always wanted her house to be an educational museum space, a safe haven for all, and a place where arts and culture bring people together. As Ma’s youngest grandchild, I’m determined to uphold my grandmother’s wishes.
Jeremy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Jeremy Dennis (b. 1990) is a contemporary fine art photographer and a tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, NY. In his work, he explores indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation. Dennis was one of 10 recipients of a 2016 Dreamstarter Grant from the national non-profit organization Running Strong for American Indian Youth. He was awarded $10,000 to pursue his project, On This Site, which uses photography and an interactive online map to showcase culturally significant Native American sites on Long Island, a topic of special meaning for Dennis, who was raised on the Shinnecock Nation Reservation. He also created a book and exhibition from this project. Most recently, Dennis received the Creative Bursar Award from Getty Images in 2018 to continue his series Stories. In 2013, Dennis began working on the series, Stories—Indigenous Oral Stories, Dreams and Myths. Inspired by North American indigenous stories, the artist staged supernatural images that transform these myths and legends to depictions of an actual experience in a photograph.
Dennis holds an MFA from Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, and a BA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University, NY.
He currently lives and works in Southampton, New York on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
It’s a huge financial and physical undertaking to restore “Ma’s House” and the Silva family home. With very limited resources my grandfather, Peter Silva, Sr., traditional Chief of the Hassanamisco Band of Indians, of Grafton, Massachusetts, scraped together what he could to build this unique house for Ma and their 6 children about 65 years ago. My mother found a picture of her father salvaging the wood and windows for the house from a Clergy house that was due to be demolished so the materials used for the home may well be over 100 years old. My direct family as well as my aunts, uncles, and cousins have lived at “Ma’s House” and sustained it until recent years with its leaky plumbing, dry rot/mold areas, unfinished basement, and outdated furnace.
In June 2020, we stated a gofundme campaign and raised over $40,000.00 towards the project which really made this all possible. We are now a 501c3 as of October 2021 and continue fundraising to complete the renovation.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
And as an artist, I have always lacked a space to show my own work with some occasional exceptions in group shows – and so Ma’s House will provide platform for myself and other artists of color to show their work and be acquired by institutions and private collectors. I think there really is a strong desire to support Shinnecock and BIPOC artists along with a clear need to redistribute resources and wealth, and I hope that through Ma’s House and Art – that can be possible.
I also want to mention or clarify that the space is only for BIPOC because often times we are tokenized by galleries and museums.
For Indigenous artists for example, I have experienced instances of tokenism and moments of “one or the other” – as if group shows and galleries can only feature one Native artist at a time or else they become redundant.
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