The Rural We: Dan Taulapapa McMullin
During the fall, I had the pleasure of visiting seeing some great art as part of The Hudson Eye Project, which focused on dance, music, performance, film, and visual art. This project partnered with local venues and was presented by Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation, arranged by curator Aaron Levi Garvey. One of the amazing artists whose work I had the pleasure of seeing was Dan Taulapapa McMullin, and not just at The Old Library -Galvan Foundation but also at a private showing at his studio in Hudson. Remarkable work.
JC: Dan, it is so good to have met you. I wanted to get a little about your history. Where you were born?
DPM: I’m Samoan; my father was half Samoan and Jewish/Irish, and my mother is full Samoan. American Samoa is a US territory, the farthest US territory from the United States, close to New Zealand and Fiji. I spent part of my childhood there — we moved there from Europe as my father was in the military. it was a shock at first because at that time Samoa was very traditional, with the rainforest, and villages that didn’t have any western houses. I stayed with my great grandmother, and her floor was a very soft type of sea coral. There were breadfruit tree pillars around. Very different life from my life before and after. Then from there I went to California. This was during the 1960s. In the 90s to early 2000s I was going back and forth between there and New Zealand. At one point, I began painting, and my first subject matter was the Samoan culture.
JC: What brought you to Hudson?
DPM: My partner, Stephen Dunn, is from California. His cousin was living in Hudson and he fell in love with her place and would visit often, and I was interested in living in Hudson. I loved the area and countryside, and found it to be one of the most beautiful places in the United States. I love the history, landscape and proximity to NYC.
JC: You’ve had your work displayed at some of the most prestigious galleries and museums. Can you share a little about that? A more personal question: There’s a misconception that all artists that have had work in some of the best museums are wealthy. Is that true?
DPM: My partner supports my work a lot, and I support his work. I help him manage his properties and books, and that takes care of things for the most part. I’ve worked with some institutions and some give support financially, and some expect that for me, the benefit would be the publicity. I find as I get a little bit better known, the institutions I work with over time are helping me more financially. I don’t have a permanent gallery, but it is one of my goals. Becoming an artist is not a practical choice in some ways. A couple of years ago I had my work shown at the Metropolitan Museum. I did a performance piece there that utilized body pieces using flowers. This was through Maia Nuku.
JC: From a cultural perspective, how do you see the palpable attention to race and culture right now, and what does it mean to you?
DPM: I think the Black Lives Matter movement is changing a lot of artists all over the world. I interviewed the Mohican tribe last year with the Hudson Eye, and that was significant for me. Many of the tribes were sold into slavery and into the West Indies, and some were sent to Wisconsin. Fascinating conversation that brought context on the tribe to the city of Hudson.
JC: How do you find life in Hudson, as a community, and what are some things that come to mind as a person of color living in Columbia County?
DPM: For one thing, Hudson is very diverse, and we live on Robinson Street which is really a neighborhood of people of color. People didn’t know if I was Black or Asian. They don’t know Polynesian people. For me the cultural shock was that I had never seen so many lower-income white people. We’ve gotten to know a lot of middle-class African American and white people from the area. I think that is actually one of the great things about Hudson, it’s very diverse. I hope it stays that way.
JC: I would say, for every one artist that we know of, there are 100 that we do not know of. Are you involved or engaged with any organizations that help support young artists?
DPM: My community is kind of global. I help an organization, Tautai, that works with young Pacific Islander artists. I don’t really know much that helps artists of color in this area. I think what's going on in the US right now is bringing more attention to artists of color, and to the idea of diversity, which means different things in different places.
JC: I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but there is a peace and calm from the Samoan community, or those Samoans I have met. What do you attribute that to?
DPM: Communal culture, and living on an island, where if you get into an argument with someone, you have to look at them for the rest of your life. You’re going to run into them all the time. You can’t burn bridges, and you’ll also have to look at their family or spouse. Kind of similar to Hudson, really. That creates a peace of its own nature, but they also have a side that you really don’t want to see either.
JC: If I wanted to find out more about your work, where could I go to get information?
DPM: The best thing is to go to my website www.taulapapa.com and there are other links on it as well.
JC: Can you share one thing that has recently impacted your life since the beginning of this year?
DPM: My partner had heart failure at the end of last year. We went to Mount Sinai and they said he had less than a year to live. We said no to that, and researched and found the best heart clinic in the world, which is in Cleveland. From the moment we went in the door, they said Mount Sinai misread the tests, and that he would be fine with a triple bypass. But they were booked for the next three months. We had checked out of the hotel, literally drove out of the hotel, when the whole world cancelled its flights due to COVID. That’s when they called us and said all the surgeries had been cancelled, and that they could do the surgery today. So I said, pull over, we told them “yes” even though we were in shock. They checked my partner in and observed him, and a week later he had surgery. Since then, he’s gradually recovered, and yesterday we went on a hike. It is a miracle that it happened around COVID, with everything for us being on hold. It was divine order for Stephen’s life, and my life.
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