Rosemary Lonewolf

Artist in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico

When artist and Santa Clara pueblo tribal member Rosemary Lonewolf began developing commissioned public artwork, she soon found that she needed support to fill in the gaps. Public art commissions can take several years, and payments to artists are generally delivered at project milestones. During the long months when she didn’t receive a paycheck, Rosemary resorted to credit cards while applying for loans.  
 
Rosemary discovered that she was unable to secure traditional financing because the assets she would normally use as collateral — her home and property — were on tribal land and held in trust by the federal government. “It gets extremely difficult for a Native person to get a loan through a traditional bank,” she says. Yet her public art commissions were growing.  
 
So when Rosemary needed a studio and storage space to create a 30-foot glass artwork piece for the Heard Museum in Phoenix, she turned to DreamSpring. The artwork was so huge that her small studio wasn’t sufficient. DreamSpring extended a $20,000 loan to help Rosemary secure a storage space she could also use as a studio.  
 
DreamSpring capital offered the physical and mental space Rosemary needed to focus on her work. “You can work with your mind clear, and that’s extremely important for an artist.”