Biography
Megan (Chain) Driving Hawk has exhibited throughout the U.S. and internationally. Her work is part of the permanent collection at Northlight Gallery in Arizona and has been reviewed in Jackalope Ranch, ASU News, Tempe Republic, The State Press, Phoenix New Times, and the Navajo-Hopi Observer. She has been invited as guest lecturer, workshop facilitator, and panelist for various events at Arizona State University and the Phoenix Indian Center. In 2011, she traveled abroad and completed the Art Intersection artist residency in Italy. In 2016, she worked as an assistant muralist for the Community Roots Mural at Take Root Cafe in Kirksville, Missouri. In 2017, Driving Hawk worked on separate artist-led participatory projects and public art pieces with Luna City2175, The Green Thumb Project, Take Root Cafe, and Park River Toolkit.
M. Driving Hawk grew up in the suburban and country areas outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a specialization in Photography and a minor in Women and Gender Studies from Arizona State University in 2010. In 2014, she earned a Master of Secondary Education and Teacher Certification in Art K-12 from Arizona State University. On a long-term residency from 2016-2018 she lived in Kirksville, Missouri where she taught art and attended a low-residency graduate program at the University of Hartford. In 2018, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. She is an Artist/Mother & Educator currently living in Phoenix, Arizona where she teaches high school traditional photography. She serves as the campus Indigenous Student and Youth Equity Stewardship Advisors.
M. Driving Hawk grew up in the suburban and country areas outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a specialization in Photography and a minor in Women and Gender Studies from Arizona State University in 2010. In 2014, she earned a Master of Secondary Education and Teacher Certification in Art K-12 from Arizona State University. On a long-term residency from 2016-2018 she lived in Kirksville, Missouri where she taught art and attended a low-residency graduate program at the University of Hartford. In 2018, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. She is an Artist/Mother & Educator currently living in Phoenix, Arizona where she teaches high school traditional photography. She serves as the campus Indigenous Student and Youth Equity Stewardship Advisors.
Artist Statement Brief
I ask questions and seek connections to the Divine, my ancestors, my husband’s ancestors, my family, my communities, and my environments through the practices of photography, poetry, and various forms of traditional needlework. I challenge historical, cultural, familial, and personal expectations of myself as I continuously navigate my positionality as a white wife and mother to Lakȟóta men. Additionally, I contemplate the delicate weavings of life, death, decay, hope, light, darkness, and what gets left behind in the transition into motherhood and postpartum. I am curious about how one person's expression of life and self-discovery connect to another and how different basic human life experiences are from one another. After spending a childhood of blocking out life, I now want to be present to feel and savor where I am in the world as I heal generational and childhood wounds.
Statement of Artistic Philosophy
Contact M. Driving Hawk for her Statement of Artistic Philosophy.
CV
Education
2016-2018 Master of Fine Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
2013-2014 Master of Secondary Education and Teaching Certification, Art, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
Endorsements: SEI, CTE, & Art K-12
2006-2010 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Photography, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
Minor: Women and Gender Studies
Selected Continued Education
2019-20 Problem & Project Based Learning for STEAM
2018-19 Youth Equity Stewardship Training
2018 Indian Education Stakeholders Summit
2016 ASU Recharge Conference: Empowering Native Youth
2016 safeTALK Certified: Suicide Prevention
Suicide prevention with an emphasis on the Native population
2011 Art Intersection: Italy 2011; Nine-day Creative Intensive Workshop
Selected Professional Experience
2018-present Fine Art Photography Teacher, Perry High School, AZ
2018-present Indigenous Student Advisor, Perry High School, AZ
2020-present Arizona State Seal of Arts Proficiency Mentor, Perry High School
2018-19 Youth Equity Stewardship Advisor, Perry High School, AZ
2017-18 Artist, Green Thumb Project, MO
2016-18 Elementary Assistant Instructor, Faith Lutheran, MO
2016-18 Art & Exploratory Teacher, Faith Lutheran, MO
2016-18 Fine Arts Intern, Take Root Café, MO
2015-16 Native American Counselor & Club Advisor, Perry High School, AZ
2014-16 Art Teacher and CTE Instructor, Perry High School, AZ
2013-14 Student Teacher, Hamilton High School, AZ
2012-13 Assistant Teacher, Great Hearts Academy, AZ
2012-13 Fine Arts Teacher Intern, Great Hearts Academy, AZ
2011-12 Gallery Coordinator, Art Intersection, AZ
Selected Community & Installation Work
2018 Original Inhabitants, PRTK: Park River Tool Kit
Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut
2018 Connecting Currents: A Celebration Of Our Rivers
Hartford Art School, Hartford Connecticut
2018 The Green Thumb Project
Kirksville R-III Community Learning Garden, Kirksville, Missouri
2017-18 Kirksville Community Quilt
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
2017 Luna City Ecosystems, Luna City 2175 (Emerge)
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
2016-17 Community Roots Mural
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations on the future (Part III)
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
2017 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations on the future (Part I): 1 egg, warm: zúŋtA wičhóuŋ
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
2009 Desert Exploration 1
The Art Café, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Seeing Voices: Community (Un)Heard
The Light Factory, Charlotte, North Carolina
2020 Hear Us Roar, An Exhibition exploring the experience of being a woman
Roaring Artist Gallery, Online
2020 Home-Works, Spilt Milk Member’s Show 2020
Spilt Milk Gallery, Online
2020 Everything is Different Now
Stay Home Gallery & Residency, Pairs, Tennessee
2020 Togethering
Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
2020 The Sky We See, part III
Color Tag Magazine, Online
2020 The Quarant-Times, vol IV
The Quarant-Times, Online
2020 Colors of Quarantine, part I
Color Tag Magazine, Online
2020 The 2020 Self-Quarentining Exhibition
Lenscratch, Online
2018 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations
on the future (Part IV): Thesis Exhibition
Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Connecticut
2018 Our Beautifully Diverse World
Kirksville Arts Association, Kirksville, Missouri
2018 Who Will You Be In Luna City?ASU Emerge, Luna City 2175
ASU Galvin Playhouse, Tempe, Arizona
2018 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations
on the future (Part II)
Koubek Center, Miami, Florida
2017 The Mildred Archeology, Contributor, Researcher, Curator
The Mildred Complex(ity), Narrowsburg, New York
2017 Sharp Art
Working Library, Portland Oregon
2016 Animalia, Juried by Traer Scott
PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont
2012 No Strangers: The Art Intersection Creative Community
Art Intersection, Gilbert, Arizona
2012 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2012 Confluence of theUncanny and Mundane, Juried by Andrea Modica
Northlight Gallery, Tempe, Arizona
2011 First Annual Silent Auction
Art Intersection, Gilbert, Arizona
2011 New Eyes on Ancient Ways: Contemporary Navajo Story Telling
The Olney Gallery at Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix, Arizona
2011 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2011 www.visualcorrespondence.com
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Dine Bikeyah: Familiar Views, Foreign Eyes
Office of Student Success, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Smudge Match 2010: a book and printmaking show
Harry Wood Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Dine Bikeyah: Familiar Views, Foreign Eyes
Deans Office, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Dine Bikeyah: Familiar Views, Foreign Eyes
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 The After Show
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2010 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2010 Homage to James Hajicek
Northlight Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Twofold
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Salad Days: a bfa photographic exhibition
Gallery 100, ASU, Tempe Arizona
2010 An Equation of the Fanciful and Bizarre,Juried by Joel Meyerowitz
Northlight Gallery, ASU, Tempe Arizona
2009 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2008 You Are My Only Hope, Juried by Darius Himes
Northlight Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2007 A Photographic Exhibition
Studio Tad, Phoenix, Arizona
2007 Intro to….
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2007 The Best of Photography I, Juried by James Hajicek
Art Building, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2007 The Positive Space Show, Juried Exhibition
Cantellops Art Gallery, LaRoche College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Online Features & Publications
Twirl: A Decade of Artist Interviews 2020-2030
Carve Out Time for Art Instagram TakeOver
Artist Parent Academic Instagram Takeover
The Sky We See, Color Tag Magazine
Stay Home Gallery, Week 10 Holding On
Milked Magazine #MilkingTheQuarantine
Spilt Milk Gallery #HomeWorkResidency
Vol. 4 The Quarant-Times
Colors of Quarantine, Color Tag Magazine
Permanent Collections
Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut
Selected Reviews/Publications/Etc
Creating Ceremony, Teaching Artist Podcast, 2020.
Home-Works. Artist-Mothers in Quarantine. Spilt Milk Gallery. 2020.
Spring 2020. Color Tag. 2020.
ASU Group Creates Moon Colony Experience for Audience. KTAR News. March 13, 2018.
http://ktar.com/story/1987286/asu-emerge-creates-moon-colony-expereience-audience/
Quilt to sew together Heartland History. KTVO. July 29, 2017.
http://ktvo.com/news/local/quilt-to-sew-together-heartland-history
Photography exhibit looks at digital communication. ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. February 15, 2011.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20110215_photography_exhibit
ASU student’s photo exhibit features Navajos’ traditions. Tempe Republic. The Arizona Republic. September 17, 2010. pg 4. http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/09/16/20100916asu-students-photo-exhibit-reservation-life.html.
Native Art: Student photo exhibit documents Navajo life. The State Press. September 15, 2010. front page.
With Reservation: Navajo Nation hosts student photographers. Phoenix New Times. Volume 41, number 36. September 9-15, 2010. pg 34.
ASU students document life on the Navajo Reservation. Navajo-Hopi Observer. September 14, 2010.http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=12865&SectionID=74&SubSectionID=114&S=1.
Photography majors experience life on Navajo reservation. ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. September 9, 2010.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20100908_Navajophotos.
Photography exhibit points lens at Navajo Nation. ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. August 24, 2010.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20100824_photographyexhibit.
Dine Bikeyah: Familiar views, Foreign Eyes, photo gallery, ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. August 24, 2010.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20100908_gallery_dinebikeyah#2.
Selected Lectures/Workshops/Panels
2020 Artist/Mother Crit Group Artist Lecture
2018 Listen Up! Youth Equity Stewardship Culminating Event
2016 Phoenix Indian Center, Youth Leadership Day
Selected Grants/Fellowships, Honors/Awards & Residencies
2020 Seeing Voices Project Completion Grant
2020 Honorable Mention, Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Women Photographing Women
2019 Problem & Project Based Learning STEAM Grant
2017 Emerge Grant Recipient
2016-18 Academic Scholarship, School of Art, University of Hartford
2014 Outstanding Teacher Candidate Achievement Award Nomination
2010 Herberger Institute, Photography Department, SPE Scholarship
2009 Herberger Institute Undergraduate Award- BA
2006-10 Deans list
2006-10 National Society for Collegiate Scholars
Professional Affiliations
Spilt Milk Gallery
Society for Photographic Education
Chandler Education Association
Arizona Education Association
National Education Association
Arizona Indian Education Association
2016-2018 Master of Fine Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
2013-2014 Master of Secondary Education and Teaching Certification, Art, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
Endorsements: SEI, CTE, & Art K-12
2006-2010 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Photography, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
Minor: Women and Gender Studies
Selected Continued Education
2019-20 Problem & Project Based Learning for STEAM
2018-19 Youth Equity Stewardship Training
2018 Indian Education Stakeholders Summit
2016 ASU Recharge Conference: Empowering Native Youth
2016 safeTALK Certified: Suicide Prevention
Suicide prevention with an emphasis on the Native population
2011 Art Intersection: Italy 2011; Nine-day Creative Intensive Workshop
Selected Professional Experience
2018-present Fine Art Photography Teacher, Perry High School, AZ
2018-present Indigenous Student Advisor, Perry High School, AZ
2020-present Arizona State Seal of Arts Proficiency Mentor, Perry High School
2018-19 Youth Equity Stewardship Advisor, Perry High School, AZ
2017-18 Artist, Green Thumb Project, MO
2016-18 Elementary Assistant Instructor, Faith Lutheran, MO
2016-18 Art & Exploratory Teacher, Faith Lutheran, MO
2016-18 Fine Arts Intern, Take Root Café, MO
2015-16 Native American Counselor & Club Advisor, Perry High School, AZ
2014-16 Art Teacher and CTE Instructor, Perry High School, AZ
2013-14 Student Teacher, Hamilton High School, AZ
2012-13 Assistant Teacher, Great Hearts Academy, AZ
2012-13 Fine Arts Teacher Intern, Great Hearts Academy, AZ
2011-12 Gallery Coordinator, Art Intersection, AZ
Selected Community & Installation Work
2018 Original Inhabitants, PRTK: Park River Tool Kit
Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut
2018 Connecting Currents: A Celebration Of Our Rivers
Hartford Art School, Hartford Connecticut
2018 The Green Thumb Project
Kirksville R-III Community Learning Garden, Kirksville, Missouri
2017-18 Kirksville Community Quilt
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
2017 Luna City Ecosystems, Luna City 2175 (Emerge)
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
2016-17 Community Roots Mural
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations on the future (Part III)
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
2017 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations on the future (Part I): 1 egg, warm: zúŋtA wičhóuŋ
Take Root Café, Kirksville, Missouri
2009 Desert Exploration 1
The Art Café, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 Seeing Voices: Community (Un)Heard
The Light Factory, Charlotte, North Carolina
2020 Hear Us Roar, An Exhibition exploring the experience of being a woman
Roaring Artist Gallery, Online
2020 Home-Works, Spilt Milk Member’s Show 2020
Spilt Milk Gallery, Online
2020 Everything is Different Now
Stay Home Gallery & Residency, Pairs, Tennessee
2020 Togethering
Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
2020 The Sky We See, part III
Color Tag Magazine, Online
2020 The Quarant-Times, vol IV
The Quarant-Times, Online
2020 Colors of Quarantine, part I
Color Tag Magazine, Online
2020 The 2020 Self-Quarentining Exhibition
Lenscratch, Online
2018 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations
on the future (Part IV): Thesis Exhibition
Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Connecticut
2018 Our Beautifully Diverse World
Kirksville Arts Association, Kirksville, Missouri
2018 Who Will You Be In Luna City?ASU Emerge, Luna City 2175
ASU Galvin Playhouse, Tempe, Arizona
2018 Cultural Confluence: Weaving memory of the past, mindfulness of the present, and meditations
on the future (Part II)
Koubek Center, Miami, Florida
2017 The Mildred Archeology, Contributor, Researcher, Curator
The Mildred Complex(ity), Narrowsburg, New York
2017 Sharp Art
Working Library, Portland Oregon
2016 Animalia, Juried by Traer Scott
PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont
2012 No Strangers: The Art Intersection Creative Community
Art Intersection, Gilbert, Arizona
2012 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2012 Confluence of theUncanny and Mundane, Juried by Andrea Modica
Northlight Gallery, Tempe, Arizona
2011 First Annual Silent Auction
Art Intersection, Gilbert, Arizona
2011 New Eyes on Ancient Ways: Contemporary Navajo Story Telling
The Olney Gallery at Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix, Arizona
2011 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2011 www.visualcorrespondence.com
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Dine Bikeyah: Familiar Views, Foreign Eyes
Office of Student Success, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Smudge Match 2010: a book and printmaking show
Harry Wood Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Dine Bikeyah: Familiar Views, Foreign Eyes
Deans Office, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Dine Bikeyah: Familiar Views, Foreign Eyes
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 The After Show
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2010 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2010 Homage to James Hajicek
Northlight Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Twofold
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Salad Days: a bfa photographic exhibition
Gallery 100, ASU, Tempe Arizona
2010 An Equation of the Fanciful and Bizarre,Juried by Joel Meyerowitz
Northlight Gallery, ASU, Tempe Arizona
2009 ASU Photographers’ Association Silent Auction
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2008 You Are My Only Hope, Juried by Darius Himes
Northlight Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2007 A Photographic Exhibition
Studio Tad, Phoenix, Arizona
2007 Intro to….
Step Gallery, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2007 The Best of Photography I, Juried by James Hajicek
Art Building, ASU, Tempe, Arizona
2007 The Positive Space Show, Juried Exhibition
Cantellops Art Gallery, LaRoche College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Online Features & Publications
Twirl: A Decade of Artist Interviews 2020-2030
Carve Out Time for Art Instagram TakeOver
Artist Parent Academic Instagram Takeover
The Sky We See, Color Tag Magazine
Stay Home Gallery, Week 10 Holding On
Milked Magazine #MilkingTheQuarantine
Spilt Milk Gallery #HomeWorkResidency
Vol. 4 The Quarant-Times
Colors of Quarantine, Color Tag Magazine
Permanent Collections
Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut
Selected Reviews/Publications/Etc
Creating Ceremony, Teaching Artist Podcast, 2020.
Home-Works. Artist-Mothers in Quarantine. Spilt Milk Gallery. 2020.
Spring 2020. Color Tag. 2020.
ASU Group Creates Moon Colony Experience for Audience. KTAR News. March 13, 2018.
http://ktar.com/story/1987286/asu-emerge-creates-moon-colony-expereience-audience/
Quilt to sew together Heartland History. KTVO. July 29, 2017.
http://ktvo.com/news/local/quilt-to-sew-together-heartland-history
Photography exhibit looks at digital communication. ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. February 15, 2011.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20110215_photography_exhibit
ASU student’s photo exhibit features Navajos’ traditions. Tempe Republic. The Arizona Republic. September 17, 2010. pg 4. http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/09/16/20100916asu-students-photo-exhibit-reservation-life.html.
Native Art: Student photo exhibit documents Navajo life. The State Press. September 15, 2010. front page.
With Reservation: Navajo Nation hosts student photographers. Phoenix New Times. Volume 41, number 36. September 9-15, 2010. pg 34.
ASU students document life on the Navajo Reservation. Navajo-Hopi Observer. September 14, 2010.http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=12865&SectionID=74&SubSectionID=114&S=1.
Photography majors experience life on Navajo reservation. ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. September 9, 2010.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20100908_Navajophotos.
Photography exhibit points lens at Navajo Nation. ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. August 24, 2010.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20100824_photographyexhibit.
Dine Bikeyah: Familiar views, Foreign Eyes, photo gallery, ASU News [Business, Culture and Affairs]. August 24, 2010.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20100908_gallery_dinebikeyah#2.
Selected Lectures/Workshops/Panels
2020 Artist/Mother Crit Group Artist Lecture
2018 Listen Up! Youth Equity Stewardship Culminating Event
2016 Phoenix Indian Center, Youth Leadership Day
Selected Grants/Fellowships, Honors/Awards & Residencies
2020 Seeing Voices Project Completion Grant
2020 Honorable Mention, Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Women Photographing Women
2019 Problem & Project Based Learning STEAM Grant
2017 Emerge Grant Recipient
2016-18 Academic Scholarship, School of Art, University of Hartford
2014 Outstanding Teacher Candidate Achievement Award Nomination
2010 Herberger Institute, Photography Department, SPE Scholarship
2009 Herberger Institute Undergraduate Award- BA
2006-10 Deans list
2006-10 National Society for Collegiate Scholars
Professional Affiliations
Spilt Milk Gallery
Society for Photographic Education
Chandler Education Association
Arizona Education Association
National Education Association
Arizona Indian Education Association