UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The family of Vanessa Niko, muralist Shane Grammer and the Hope Through Art Foundation are conducting a mural project for young artists in Upper Lake.
The Young Artist Intern Mural Project began Friday, April 30, and will continue through Wednesday, May 5.
The mural will be of Vanessa Niko, who was a member of the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake as well as being of Samoan descent.
Niko died in June 2017 after being severely injured in a domestic violence assault by the father of her children, as Lake County News has reported.
Organizers reported that Niko is a missing and murdered indigenous women “sister” because of being a victim of domestic violence.
Young artists from around Lake County have been invited to participate in this event to promote awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women like Niko.
The Hope Through Art Foundation is a nonprofit entity devoted to broadening public awareness and education of social issues such as missing and murdered indigenous women through art.
The mural will be dedicated in honor of Niko’s life on National MMIW Day, Wednesday, May 5.
The dedication will take place at 12:30 p.m. at 9460 Main St. in Upper Lake.
To honor Niko’s Pomo and Samoan heritage there will be a Pomo dance group and Kumu Hula Mikilani Young, a representative of United Pillars of Aloha, will be in attendance.
Following the dedication ceremony, there will be a dinner and they will close out with a song and prayer.
For further information on this national epidemic of violence against indigenous women, go to www.mmiwusa.org.