Kariko’s Unbroken Spirit depicts healer Stanford Addison

June 12, 11:15 AMJackson Hole Fine Arts ExaminerTammy Christel

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"Contact," by Sarah Kariko

“Unbroken Spirit,” an exhibition of photographs by Sarah Kariko, opens tonight in the Artspace Theater Gallery, adjacent to the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts Performing Arts lobby. Billed as an evening of stories, music, film and photography, tonight’s opening reception begins at 7:30 pm. 

“Unbroken Spirit: The Life and Times of Stanford Addison,” photographically relates the story of Addison, a Northern Arapaho traditional healer and horse gentler. Thirty years ago Addison’s truck collided with a herd of wild horses, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Without the use of his legs, Addison labored to reshape his life, striving to “…make friends with horses again.” Now, Addison’s extended family and community work to train and gentle wild horses near Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation. Crop duct taped to his arm, a long black braid swinging behind him, Addison practices his non-forceful training methods from a wheelchair.

Kariko, an artist and community organizer, received a History of Science degree from Harvard, and taught natural history at the Teton Science School in Kelly, Wyoming. A Fulbright scholarship recipient, her work includes studying Madagascar’s rainforest spiders.

Kariko’s photographs capture Addison’s Heyteyneytah Project, a program connecting at-risk Arapahoe youths to indigenous cultural and spiritual practices. Learning the art of peaceful communication by working with horses enables participants to learn to communicate with each other.

“Through cultural exchange, nonviolent communication and the challenging of human boundaries, we seek to honor the differences among racial groups, physical abilities, age groups, spiritual beliefs and between humans and animals,” says Addison. He adds that his practice “preserves the spirit of the horse. It builds respect…and trust, so that they want to listen to us. They know we won’t hurt them.”

“Unbroken Spirit” remains on display at Jackson Hole’s Center for the Arts through July 20. Tonight’s event includes a screening of Angelique Midthunder’s PBS documentary “Silent Thunder,” as well as a question and answer session with author Lisa Jones (Broken: A Love Story), Kariko, and Addison.

The Art Association of Jackson Hole, Center of Wonder, The Giving Voice Project, Wyoming Arts Council, Wyoming Humanities Council and the Wind River Development Fund sponsored this event.