Richard Glazer-Danay
Mohawk, b. 1942
Institute of American Indian Arts
Person TypeIndividual
BiographyRichard Glazer Danay was born in Coney Island, New York, in 1942 to a Mohawk father and Jewish mother, Glazer-Danay comes from the first generation of a “new breed” — urban Indians — who descended from those who migrated from the reservation to urban centers for employment and education. His ancestral ties belong to a long line of high-steel construction workers who, since the 1900s, have relocated/traveled from the Mohawk reserve in Kahnawake, Quebec, to build skyscrapers and bridges in major cities around the world. Glazer-Danay’s oeuvre is made up of elements and images that reflect his colorful Coney Island and Hollywood upbringing, expressed through a Pop Art sensibility, bricolage, assemblage and a unique Mohawk influence. He had a successful academic and studio teaching career, beginning in 1972 and continuing through 2005 (California State Universities, Chico, Riverside and Long Beach; University of California, Davis; University of Wisconsin, Green Bay), and in 1980, held a year-long appointment as acting director of the C.N. Gorman Museum (UC, Davis).
Institute of American Indian Arts
