The Good Life

lakotaartstudio:

Visions of Lakota artist realized
By Karin Eagle, Native Sun News Staff Writer

PINE RIDGE RESERVATION - Ownership. Freedom. Sustainability.

These are dreams of many Lakota people who have a talent or an ability that they want to turn into business and provide a service to their communities.

Starting a business on the Pine Ridge Reservation is possible, but with all of the obstacles facing small business owners under the best of circumstances, any business has less then a 50% chance of succeeding or even making through the first year in operation. Organizations such as Lakota Funds offer educational and financial support, but there is still a weak economy which has always existed on the reservation to take into consideration.

One Local businessman has the talent, the heart and the determination to push his vision of business ownership into the next phase.

Lakota Art Studio, in existence since November of 2009, is owned and operated by Mike Patton, Oglala Lakota. Patton is also the head designer of the business that provides screen printing and airbrush art designs.

Lakota Art Studio was originally located out of one of the businesses in Whiteclay, Neb., just a few hundred feet from the Pine Ridge Reservation border and was one of the few businesses in the controversial town that did not sale alcohol.

Currently Patton is seeking a new location within the reservation boundaries where he can begin, in earnest, to provide the screen printing services to various organizations and businesses as well as try and contribute to the economy by employing other Lakota artists.

“I started airbrushing back in 2008, but I wouldn’t count that as my official start of my business,” said Patton. “My inspiration came from the lack of jobs on the reservation, so i started doing something for myself,” he said, in reflecting about the origins of Lakota Art Studio.

Patton went on to explain motivations and goals for his business.

“My love of art kept me working in an artistic way, and seeing how much talent there is around the reservation, I want to do something to collaborate with other artists.”

Collaborating with other artists is a common theme amoung the local musicians, who seek to enhance their artistic presentations by combining them with the visions of other artists.

I think I need to do more work,” Patton said. “For the past year-and-a-half, I tried to build up my business, which is just screen printing. My biggest challenge right now is finding artists and creative people and gaining a connection with them.”

As any business owner knows, having the vision and determination is important, but there are so many other aspects of owning a business that need to be put in place in order to see success.

“So right now the idea of what I want to do is still in the works. I think I would have to do more work  before what I want to do is put in motion,” said Patton.

What Patton creates, almost casually is a true form of art, as it is created for the pure expression of his vision and not as a commercially produced product. For more Information about Lakota Art Studio, contact Patton at LakotaArtStudio@gmail.com.

(Contact Karin Eagle at staffwriter2@ns weekly.com)

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