Jane Doe Initiative: Blackhawk

Kailani Dobson

Kailani Dobson is a local mixed-media installation artist with a background in movement-based works. Her pieces often combine projected visuals, textile sculptures, and a performance element. She is passionate about making art more accessible and believes that art is a community-driven endeavor that benefits from the conglomeration of multiple artforms. During the Covid-19 quarantine she has continued to bring art into the community with her most recent dance film ‘Descent’ that premiered as an outdoor site-specific installation alongside a performance. She continues to present work digitally and constantly looks for more opportunities to engage with the community. The artistic director of Merikai Studio, Kailani, alongside her partner Robert Stokes aim to create socially and environmentally conscious abstract films that bridge the gaps between different artistic media.  

Lindsay Hand

Lindsay Hand is a Colorado Springs based painter. Her work is informed by historical, social  and cultural research. Hand has consistently exhibited her work at galleries, museums and cultural centers across the US. Her paintings, in their collaboration with institutes and entities outside of the traditional gallery experience, have expanded into a socially engaged practice and interactive exhibition style. Hand is currently studying Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation to expand her knowledge and awareness in regard to cases of deceased and unidentified women, enriching the concepts and perceptions fueling her body of work centered around Jane Doe. For this project, she will create a ritually layered oil painting with imagery and material sourced from dreamscapes, crime scenes, historical documents and photos. 

Lisa Show

Lisa Show is a Colorado Springs-born cellist and singer creating non-classical compositions and soundscapes. Her musical projects span several years living and performing in Austin, Texas with rock and roll bands, multiple short tours in the West and Midwest playing Blues-Americana, and most recently, with all-female shoegaze band Spirettes. Lisa is currently enrolled in the master’s counseling program at the University of Colorado Denver, anticipating a professional orientation to address trauma, crisis, grief, and loss, with a special interest in somatic therapies. Her present collaborations focus on providing synchronous soundscapes with yoga asana practice and conceptual multimedia art installations, fusing cello-driven sound overlays with clinically-intelligent vibrational somatics to engage participants in an immersive experience that is both creative in nature and therapeutic in effect. 

Shell Wojtas

Medium/Titles: Citizen of Pokagon Band Potawatomi Indians, MMIWG2S liaison, Jane Doe advocate, amateur genealogist working towards certification

Bio: Born to an Indigenous mother and first generation Polish father, my earliest memories are from the genealogy department in South Bend, IN. Little did I know then, my mother was spearheading the future of our Tribe. In 1994 we stood in the Oval Office watching Bill Clinton reaffirm Pokagon Band as a federally recognized Tribe. This was a step forward acknowledging that we not only survived a history of mass genocide, assimilation and broken treaties, but we were thriving. It’s important to identify our MMIW so that their stolen bodies can be returned to Mother Earth and their spirits may walk on. Historically disenfranchised people’s need representation. Our communities need hope. I am the one our ancestors have been waiting for.