San Carlos Apache
The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation ( Western Apache: Tsékʼáádn), in southeastern Arizona, United States, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe as well as surrounding Yavapai and Apache bands removed fr ...
-
Akimel O'odham
The Pima (or Akimel O'odham, also spelled Akimel Oʼotham, "River People," formerly known as ''Pima'') are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona, as well as northwestern Mexico in ...
painter, printmaker and photographer from
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, who founded Apache Skateboards and Apache Skate Team.
Background
Douglas Miles grew up in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
sci-fi
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
, and comic books and attended the Al Collins Graphic Design School in Phoenix. From 1978 to 1980, Miles attended the Bostrom Alternative High School, when he created street art.
Artwork and Apache Skateboards
Watching his son practice skateboarding, Miles drew corollaries between skateboarding and the Apache warrior tradition, as both involved increase concentration, stamina, and the ability to withstand pain. After finding no skate decks available relevant to Apache culture, Miles painted a skateboard deck himself. He gave it to his son, and this spawned Apache Skateboards.
Founded in 2002, Apache Skateboards is one of the earlier Native American-owned skateboard companies. Native artists working on the Apache Skateboard project with Miles include Razelle Bennally; Tracy Polk Jr.; Douglas Miles Jr.; Keith Secola; Reuben Ringlero; Irwin Lewis; Tony Steele; and Tashadawn Hastings. As Apache Skate Team, the group gives skating demonstrations, organizes skateboard contests and concerts, and curates art shows around the country, and especially on Indian reservations in the
American Southwest
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
.
"Painting on the skateboards ... opens up a whole new medium for me," Miles told ''Shade'' magazine. "My skateboards are both traditional and contemporary by design. Are they fine art or pop art? Why can't they be both?" He emphasizes Native American youth, Apache culture, and reservation lifestyles in his work. "You need to show 'Indian people' in the 21st century and not so much as museum pieces," Miles says.
Miles and Apache Skateboards have succeeded in finding new venues for art and skateboarding, blending the arenas of fine art, pop culture, and sport. They have successfully challenged outmoded categorization of
Native American art
Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which includes ...
based on anthropological perspectives. Together they have helped form the artist collective, Native Agents, and added visual artists Micah Wesley (
Muscogee Creek
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsKiowa
Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...
),
Rose B. Simpson
Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo) (born 1983) is a mixed-media artist who works in ceramic, metal, fashion, painting, music, performance, and installation. She lives and works in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. Her work has been exhibited at SI ...
(
Santa Clara Pueblo
Santa Clara Pueblo (in Tewa: Khaʼpʼoe Ówîngeh ɑ̀ʔp’òː ʔówîŋgè ″Singing Water Village″, also known as ″Village of Wild Roses″ is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States and a federa ...
Muscogee Creek
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsCherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
) to the Apache Skateboard group. Native Agents curate "Pop Life" events, which combine visual art, music, and skateboarding, and are informed by the
DIY ethic
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
of
punk culture
The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...
.
Apache Skateboards work continually in film, photography, fine art, skateboarding, murals, multimedia projects, community projects, skate park planning, skateboard events, apparel design, television, film, youth conferences and speaking engagements. They produced a documentary, "Walk Like a Warrior: The Apache Skateboards Story," which was co-directed by Douglas Miles and Franck Boistel.
In 2008, Apache Skateboards collaborated with iPath Footwear to create the I-PACHE collection of sneakers, fitted hats, and T-shirts, all of which feature Douglas Miles' original designs.
In 2019, Miles and Apache Skateboards were featured in the documentary ''The Mystery of Now''. In the film, Miles shares the socio-political context around the history that lead to life on the San Carlos Apache reservation. ''The Mystery of Now'' was featured in '' National Geographics short film showcase.
Notable exhibits
*2011 ''Indian Ink II''. Pravus Gallery. Phoenix, Arizona.
*2010 ''Indian Ink I''. Legends Santa Fe. Santa Fe, New Mexico.
*2008 ''Apache: Douglas Miles.'' Officially Closed: Dead Letter Department. Los Angeles, California.
*2005 ''Pop Life.'' Wilson College, Princeton University.
*2005 ''Reservation Radical/Apache Skateboards: The Art of Douglas Miles.'' Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. Santa Cruz, California.
*2004–2007 ''Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture''. Art Train USA. Traveling exhibit.
*2004 ''Native Nollies: Skateboard Deck Art''. Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
*2003 ''
Santa Fe Indian Market
The Santa Fe Indian Market is an annual art market held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the weekend following the third Thursday in August. The event draws an estimated 150,000 people to the city from around the world. The Southwestern Association for ...
''. SWAIA. First Place, Mixed Media.
*2003 ''Heard Museum Indian Art Market''.
Heard Museum
The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...
. Phoenix, Arizona. Won Best of Painting.
Apache Skateboards has worked with the Gila River Tribe (twice),
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
,
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
The Red Lake Indian Reservation (Ojibwe: ''Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga'iganing'') covers in parts of nine counties in northwestern Minnesota, United States.
It is made up of numerous holdings but the largest section is an area about Red Lake, in no ...
,
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
San Carlos Apache Tribe
The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation ( Western Apache: Tsékʼáádn), in southeastern Arizona, United States, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe as well as surrounding Yavapai and Apache bands removed f ...
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
,
Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and th ...
, and soon, the
Mashantucket Pequot
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is a federally recognized American Indian tribe in the state of Connecticut. They are descended from the Pequot people, an Algonquian-language tribe that dominated the southern New England coastal areas, and ...
Museum.
Collaboration with Susan Folwell
Douglas Miles collaborated with
Santa Clara Pueblo
Santa Clara Pueblo (in Tewa: Khaʼpʼoe Ówîngeh ɑ̀ʔp’òː ʔówîŋgè ″Singing Water Village″, also known as ″Village of Wild Roses″ is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States and a federa ...
potter Susan Folwell to make the "Blood and Dirt" collection, featuring painted pottery works by both artists, in contemporary social-commentary style.Blood and Dirt collaboration
Collections
Several pieces of his work are in the collection of the
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
.''Collections Search.'' ''National Museum of the American Indian.'' Accessed 6 April 2011. His paintings are in private collections in France, Germany, New York, and Los Angeles.Talahongva, Patty "The Dynamic Art of Apache Skateboards." ''The Native Voice.'' Accessed 6 April 2011. Miles' and Apache Skateboard's art is also in the permanent collections of the
Montclair Art Museum
The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is located in Montclair, New Jersey, United States, a few miles west of New York City. Since it opened in 1914 as the first museum in New Jersey that granted access to the public and the first dedicated solely to a ...