Artist Statement: Óódááł | Everyone Moving Forward is a colorful depiction of two young Diné girls walking behind a flock of sheep. They blow bubbles with their gum and wave their hands in the air to keep the herd moving. They walk past a twisted cedar tree with geometric patterns framing them. In the far background are four wind turbines, mimicking a corn field. Blue gramma grass grows at their feet. The color pallet for this mural accentuates the local landscape and vegetation.

I am from the greater Gallup area, named by the local Indigenous community as Naná’áztiin (The Curved Road). My grandparents lived next to us and from the time I could walk properly, my older sister and I would herd my grandmother’s sheep. At the end of the week our grandfather would pull out a heavy bean sack that was filled with quarters and sit it on the bed. He would pay us each 25 cents for tending to the sheep. I was so happy to receive these shiny coins because I knew I could buy bubble gum from the trading post next to the post office with them. Each piece of gum was 10 cents which meant I could buy two and save the other piece for the next day. These memories are valuable to me because a few years later my grandparents would sell all their sheep and instantaneously I didn’t walk across the land like I once did.