By Wade Sheldon; photos courtesy of Jen Tracy
The six-gift box set being distributed to the first 1,200 tribal members who show up to vote at General Counsel on April 12 includes artist Jennifer Tracy’s orca paintings. The Board of Directors selected these unique gifts to showcase Tulalip tribal small businesses and each company’s art, crafts, and delicacies.
Tracy shared her passion for painting and expressed, “I have always been interested in painting, and in 2008, I started. It’s very calming and relaxing for me. Once you start, you can kind of get in a groove, and all the creativity takes over, and I never know what I will come up with.” This insight into her artistic process highlights the beauty of her work and the profound connection artists have with their craft, further enhancing the value of the gifts being presented to the tribal members.
She operates under the business name “Jen Tracy Art” and typically showcases her work at pow-wows and other community events. She mentioned that she discovered a call for local artists and found it exciting since she had never seen such an opportunity before. Tracy explained, “I saw that they were looking for more traditional Co-Salish designs, and I thought that was cool, so I decided to give it a shot. It was the most significant order I have ever had. It was a bit grueling fulfilling this order, but it was nice learning that I could fulfill an order this large for future reference.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming GC meeting, Tracy expressed her hopes for the new leadership, “I would like to see the education for our tribal youth enhanced so our kids have a foot up in the future. I would also like to see more business expansion. Who gets elected should be business-minded and tied to our culture and traditions. They should also have a progressive mindset and be able to take initiative.”
Finally, she concluded with optimism, saying, “I hope everyone enjoys the gifts. I look forward to seeing all the different submissions, and I hope people get inspired to help the local artists.”
If you want to purchase art from Jennifer, you can contact her on her Facebook at Jennifer Tracy.