Nanibah "Nani" Chacon (born 1980)^[1] is aDiné andChicanapainter,muralist, andart educator.^[2] Her work has been installed at theIAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, theNavajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, theISEA International Arts and Technology Symposium,^[3]Old Town Lansing,^[4] and in the "Que Chola" Exhibition at theNational Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque,^[5] among other venues.

Chacon was born inGallup, New Mexico and raised inChinle, Arizona andAlbuquerque, New Mexico.^[3]

At the age of 15, Chacon first became involved instreet art andgraffiti. After 10 years of producing street art, she began to make painted mural art. She then became part of theHonor the Treaties collective that produce work about Native peoples' rights and land issues.^[3]

Chacon's mural,She Taught Us to Weave, was commissioned by the City of Albuquerque for theISEA International Arts and Technology Symposium in 2012. This mural is part of the Wells Park Rail Corridor Mural Project and contains a low-power radio transmitter. The radio device transmits the words,Hozho naahaslii, a Navajo phrase that connotes "the instrinsic value of living beautifully."^[6]

In 2013, her mural,Against The Storm She Gathers Her Thoughts, became the first mural installation in theNavajo Nation Museum as a part of theCh'ikééh Baa Hózhǫ exhibit.^[7] In conjunction with this exhibit, her workNa iiz Nah, was selected for inclusion in the indigenous art zine,Ziindi.^[8] Also in 2013, Chacon's workManifestations of Glittering World was included in theStands With A Fist: Contemporary Native Women Artists exhibit at theMuseum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.^[9]

Chacon was included in the19th Young Latino Artists Exhibition, entitledY, Que? (And What!), at theMexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas, which presented multimedia artworks from emergingLatinx artists, under the age of 35, that explored themes of race, class, gender, sexuality, and cultural identity.^[10] The same year, she was the featured artist speaker at theNorthern New Mexico College conferenceMapping Geographies of Self: Woman as First Environment.^[11]

In 2015, Chacon was the lead artist on the largest mural in Albuquerque,Resilience.^[12] For this mural, she partnered with the nonprofit youth arts organization,Working Classroom, and collaborated with a number of students from Albuquerque's Washington Middle School.^[13][14][15] That year, she also completed a mural on a wall of the Municipal Arts Gallery inIzhevsk, Russia.^[16]

Chacon's work was featured in theCode Mixing: From Concrete to Canvas Exhibition atMovimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) inSan Jose, California in 2016.^[17] In 2017, she designed and installed the workSing Our Rivers Red, an installation honoring over 1,000 Indigenous Canadian women and girls who have been reported missing or killed since 1980, at the CHAC Gallery as a part of Denver, Colorado's Sing Our Rivers Red March.^[18]

In the summer of 2017, Chacon and youth fromEspañola completed the muralThe River Flows Through It at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. The mural represents the diverse textile traditions ofNorthern New Mexico and includes elements that represent Navajo, Pueblo, and Spanish fiber art techniques.^[19][20]

In fall 2018, Chacon participated in theMichigan State University Womxn of Color InitiativeArtist-in-Residence, a program which creates space for students to engage withwomen of color. As Estrella Torrez, a professor and one of the organizers of the Womxn of Color Initiative, said, "Nanibah Chacón is one of the most significant muralists working today. In addition to creating exceptionally beautiful works of art, her paintings address complex and poignant topics by foregrounding the stories of Indigenous womxn and Indigenous knowledges."^[2]

She has also been a visiting artist atWashington State University, where she created a mural installation.^[21]

Chacon lives in Albuquerque with her son. Her brother,Raven Chacon, is a celebratedsound artist.