|
|
Megan Driving Hawk is an Artist, Mother, Educator practicing habits of the heart to facilitate connection, healing, and learning. Creatively she researches collective healing, generational trauma, memory, and time. Academically she researches culturally responsive fine arts education.
She earned a BFA in Fine Art Photography from Arizona State University, an MEd in Secondary Education with a teacher certification in Art K-12 from ASU, and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Hartford. She is Nationally Board Certified with SEI and CTE endorsements. She spent 10 years creating & teaching a culturally responsive art education curriculum which included dual enrollment and AP-2D classes and has served as Indigenous Student Advisor, Teacher Equity Leader, and Visual Arts Lead. In 2020 she was awarded an Education Association Member-to-Member grant and a NAEA ED&I scholarship. In 2023 she was awarded Arizona Art Educator of the Year.
Her artwork has been reviewed, collected, and exhibited numerous times throughout the present-day U.S. and internationally. She has been invited as guest lecturer, workshop facilitator, and panelist for various events. In 2020 she received honorable mention in the Women Photographing Women category of the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards. In 2023 she completed a three-year tenure with Eye Lounge Artist Collective in Phoenix, Arizona & was selected as artist-in-residence at the Tempe Center for the Arts.
Driving Hawk currently serves as the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Rep for the Arizona Art Education Association, and a Running with Purpose Artist/Athlete Advocate. She lives on O’odham, Yavapai, Akimel O’odham (Upper Pima) and Hohokam lands in present day Phoenix, Arizona where she focuses on mothering and making.
She earned a BFA in Fine Art Photography from Arizona State University, an MEd in Secondary Education with a teacher certification in Art K-12 from ASU, and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Hartford. She is Nationally Board Certified with SEI and CTE endorsements. She spent 10 years creating & teaching a culturally responsive art education curriculum which included dual enrollment and AP-2D classes and has served as Indigenous Student Advisor, Teacher Equity Leader, and Visual Arts Lead. In 2020 she was awarded an Education Association Member-to-Member grant and a NAEA ED&I scholarship. In 2023 she was awarded Arizona Art Educator of the Year.
Her artwork has been reviewed, collected, and exhibited numerous times throughout the present-day U.S. and internationally. She has been invited as guest lecturer, workshop facilitator, and panelist for various events. In 2020 she received honorable mention in the Women Photographing Women category of the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards. In 2023 she completed a three-year tenure with Eye Lounge Artist Collective in Phoenix, Arizona & was selected as artist-in-residence at the Tempe Center for the Arts.
Driving Hawk currently serves as the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Rep for the Arizona Art Education Association, and a Running with Purpose Artist/Athlete Advocate. She lives on O’odham, Yavapai, Akimel O’odham (Upper Pima) and Hohokam lands in present day Phoenix, Arizona where she focuses on mothering and making.
Published on April 1st, 2025. Artist responses collected in months previous.
Talk about some of the logistics of your art practice. What systems do you have in place to help streamline your workflows?
2024 was a year of change. I am currently rebuilding my systems. I ended my tenure at an artist collective in January, I left a full time teaching job in May, and I had baby number two in August. I had a big push in the summer to finish a project that went up in exhibition in the fall. However, any workflow I had in place at the beginning and mid year are non-existent now. I expect it to take me most of 2025 to find my workflow again within my new life routine. Although writing is more accessible to me, the last part of this year I’ve been playing around in the studio in little bits of time that I have. I have planned a structure around a creative writing practice for this year and can’t wait to share that in next year’s interview!
What is some advice for someone who does not have any experience who would like to pursue a career like yours?
I identify as an artist / mother and my career is shaped as such. Things that help me are…
-Being flexible about the work I have the ability to make in this phase of motherhood as it won’t last forever.
-Being gentle with myself and my expectations around due dates.
-Starting small in introducing a schedule back into the studio.
-Asking for help from my support system. Being an artist/mother looks different for everyone. Some mothers take weeks, months, and even years off from their art practice. Everyone has different priorities and capabilities with young children at home so find what works best for you.
What was the lowest point in your art career and how did you overcome those adversities?
I understand now that there are multiple steps in the creative cycle between conception, gestation and birth. This cycle can take a month, a year or many years to complete. Seeing creativity in this way allows me to honor the phase I’m in rather than feel the pressure to constantly be in production mode. Each phase of the cycle is important to the whole ecosystem. I work on multiple projects at a time and so each might be in a different part of the cycle. I also sync up with the rhythm of the seasons so no matter what cycle a project is in I personally might be in a fallow phase so everything pauses at that point.
How did you come into the type of artwork you are doing now?
When I was nursing my first kiddo five years ago I collected the data from that journey (how long I nursed, what side, what time of day, and when I pumped.) I knew I wanted to do something with the data but put it away until I knew I was ready to make something with it. In 2022 I started thinking about the word latch. The beginning of our nursing journey was all about latching so I decided to use the latch hook technique to convey what my “latching” journey felt like.
What was an epiphany in your art practice that took you to the next level?
I read the quote, “Tell your own story and you will be interesting” by Louis Bourgeois. I was making work about family and just starting to learn more about Lakota traditions. I was trying to figure out how to bring our family traditions and culture together without appropriating Lakota culture. When I read this quote I realized that my story was about how our cultures come together in the forming of our family and my motherhood journey. I’ve been making artwork about motherhood ever since. Some of my work focuses more on motherhood itself and some of it focuses on the cultural aspects.
Talk about some of the logistics of your art practice. What systems do you have in place to help streamline your workflows?
2024 was a year of change. I am currently rebuilding my systems. I ended my tenure at an artist collective in January, I left a full time teaching job in May, and I had baby number two in August. I had a big push in the summer to finish a project that went up in exhibition in the fall. However, any workflow I had in place at the beginning and mid year are non-existent now. I expect it to take me most of 2025 to find my workflow again within my new life routine. Although writing is more accessible to me, the last part of this year I’ve been playing around in the studio in little bits of time that I have. I have planned a structure around a creative writing practice for this year and can’t wait to share that in next year’s interview!
What is some advice for someone who does not have any experience who would like to pursue a career like yours?
I identify as an artist / mother and my career is shaped as such. Things that help me are…
-Being flexible about the work I have the ability to make in this phase of motherhood as it won’t last forever.
-Being gentle with myself and my expectations around due dates.
-Starting small in introducing a schedule back into the studio.
-Asking for help from my support system. Being an artist/mother looks different for everyone. Some mothers take weeks, months, and even years off from their art practice. Everyone has different priorities and capabilities with young children at home so find what works best for you.
What was the lowest point in your art career and how did you overcome those adversities?
I understand now that there are multiple steps in the creative cycle between conception, gestation and birth. This cycle can take a month, a year or many years to complete. Seeing creativity in this way allows me to honor the phase I’m in rather than feel the pressure to constantly be in production mode. Each phase of the cycle is important to the whole ecosystem. I work on multiple projects at a time and so each might be in a different part of the cycle. I also sync up with the rhythm of the seasons so no matter what cycle a project is in I personally might be in a fallow phase so everything pauses at that point.
How did you come into the type of artwork you are doing now?
When I was nursing my first kiddo five years ago I collected the data from that journey (how long I nursed, what side, what time of day, and when I pumped.) I knew I wanted to do something with the data but put it away until I knew I was ready to make something with it. In 2022 I started thinking about the word latch. The beginning of our nursing journey was all about latching so I decided to use the latch hook technique to convey what my “latching” journey felt like.
What was an epiphany in your art practice that took you to the next level?
I read the quote, “Tell your own story and you will be interesting” by Louis Bourgeois. I was making work about family and just starting to learn more about Lakota traditions. I was trying to figure out how to bring our family traditions and culture together without appropriating Lakota culture. When I read this quote I realized that my story was about how our cultures come together in the forming of our family and my motherhood journey. I’ve been making artwork about motherhood ever since. Some of my work focuses more on motherhood itself and some of it focuses on the cultural aspects.
Find Megan Driving Hawk on Instagram
|
|