The town of Vail has agreed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought last year by Hunkpapa Lakota artist Danielle SeeWalker , who was represented by the ACLU of Colorado and the law firm Newman McNulty.

The lawsuit stemmed from the town’s decision in 2024 to cancel SeeWalker’s artist residency after she posted a photo of one of her works on Instagram that drew parallels between the genocide of Native Americans in the United States and the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

As part of the settlement, the town will fund a new art program for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged people, host a powwow organized by SeeWalker each year at Donovan Pavilion for the next five years, and sponsor a community forum on Israel and Palestine that includes voices from Vail’s Jewis

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