Arts@LC Blog
Native Scholar-Artist 2023/2024: Dr. Waylon Lenk
Open gallery
Lewis & Clark College hosted Waylon Lenk BA ’08 as its first Native Scholar-Artist in Residence in 2023-2024. A Karuk theatre artist and Shakespeare scholar from the villages of Ka’tim’îin and Taxasúfkara near the Oregon-California border, Lenk returned to his alma mater to launch the new program. During his time on campus, he performed his one-man show, Something Spoken, Something Heard, and worked directly with students across departments.
The Native Scholar-Artist in Residence initiative was developed as part of Lewis & Clark College’s institutional effort to build relationships with Indigenous communities. President Robin Holmes-Sullivan had previously outlined this commitment in a message to the campus community on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, writing:
“We owe First Peoples a great debt of gratitude for the countless social, historical, cultural, technological, and industrial contributions they have made to our country and the world. We also owe them an open acknowledgment of the generational harm done to their communities when the U.S. government forcibly removed their ancestors from their traditional lands.”
Following conversations with Indigenous alumni, the college created the residency alongside the Presidential Native American Advisory Committee. These initiatives built upon the college’s first Community Dialogue, which was organized by students, staff, and faculty to explore the history and name of Lewis & Clark.
Dr. Lenk’s residency began during New Student Orientation, where he gave a lecture on Native Shakespeare. His talk tied into the Common Reading initiative for incoming students, which focused on the theme “The Stories We Weave” to highlight Native artistic and scholarly traditions. The orientation programming also included Cherokee photographer Joe Cantrell, who led an interactive land acknowledgment and presented his photographic work mapping the interior of rocks and fossils.
Later in the term, Dr. Lenk directed the theatre department’s fall main stage production: the world premiere of Henry IV, Part 1, translated by Algonquin playwright Yvette Nolan. Lenk, who studied theatre and German alpine studies at L&C, brought a long professional history to the production.
“I began working with Yvette on her translation of Henry IV, Part 1 eight years ago as her resident dramaturg, providing critical feedback on her drafts and research notes during our workshops,” Lenk said. “Although the play is set in medieval England and Wales, it has a lot to say about the destructive legacy of English imperialism here in North America.”
Collaborative Frameworks
The residency brought several external theater professionals to campus. In November, Yvette Nolan visited to discuss her translation process. The theatre department also hosted Madeline Sayet, a Mohegan Tribe member and executive director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program, who spoke about her background bridging Mohegan storytelling and classical Western theatre.
Reflecting on the program’s introduction, Bruce Suttmeier, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, noted how Lenk’s work matched the initial goals of the residency:
“His work exemplifies what has been the guiding vision for the initiative, which includes deep, reciprocal engagement with the natural and human histories that have unfolded here.”
Suttmeier credited the launch of the program to the work of an on-campus faculty committee, including Associate Professor of Art Jess Perlitz, Associate Professor of Theatre Rebecca Lingafelter, and Professor of Music Katherine FitzGibbon, whose outreach to tribal communities established the foundation for the residency’s first year.