Dwayne Manuel hails from the murky depths of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. A descendant of the ancient Hohokam people, raised amongst the cotton fields during the midst of 90’s Bloods and Crips gang warfare, Dwayne always maintained a grip on his cultural horses as he traveled down that Old O’odham road. Some elder O’odham folks would describe Dwayne as “Born with a pencil in his hand”, which is his 2nd Indian name. His first Indian name-“podach”, meaning ugly, in the O’odham language.
Dwayne graduated from the infamous Desert Eagle Secondary School in 2002 with a broken foot and broken arm. Attending the Scottsdale Community College briefly after high school, he would then go on to receive his Bachelors of Fine Art from the Native Americanly prestigious Institute of American Indian Arts-Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2010. Dwayne then attended the University Of Arizona School of Art where he would receive his Masters of Fine Art in 2014. Now, calling himself “Master Manuel” and a Self Proclaimed Jonas Brother, Dwayne teaches painting and drawing at the Tohono O’odham Community College in both Sells, Arizona and Phoenix, Arizona.
In his professional art career, Dwayne has collaborated and been commissioned by organizations such as Nike, Salt River Courts, The New Arizona Prize, The Cheyenne River Youth Project and Children’s Museum Tucson.
He has exhibited work at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, The Amerind, The Heard Museum, Tucson Museum of Art, The Container Yard, I.D.E.A. Space Colorado, The Joseph Gross Gallery, Raices Taller Gallery, Contreras Gallery, The Hive Gallery, The Huhugam Heritage Center, Anchorage Museum, Tucson Desert Art Museum and the UA Museum of Art.