Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Come Together— Digitally! As Museum of Indian Arts and Culture staff weather the coronavirus pandemic at home, their work on future exhibitions and educational programming continues. Staff are also devising current and creative ways to reach museum-goers digitally, ensuring that you stay close to the museum while staying home. These online offerings enable the public to explore various objects from exhibitions via social media and the museum website. A vast research and collections page, including an online library and classroom curricula to keep students busy, can also be accessed from home. Visit these resources and stay connected today!
indianartsandculture.org • Library • Online Exhibitions • Podcasts • Research and Collections • Wonders of the World Educational Curriculum
Social Media • Facebook • YouTube • Vimeo Visit museumfoundation.org/ virtual-visit for links to all online resources.
Clearly Original
Indigenous Expressions in Glass The story of Native American glass art is one of fusion and transparency, like the medium itself. It involves the meeting of two minds: pioneering glass sculptor Dale Chihuly and Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) co-founder Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee), who got together in the 1970s to invite a generation of Native artists to practice glass making. Their artistic and cultural exchange is explored in Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Re-Imagined in Glass, a groundbreaking future exhibition being planned for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The show highlights the work of 29 indigenous North American artists with that of two Australian Aboriginal and two Maori glassworkers, for a total, with Chihuly, of 34 featured artists. “We’ve basically tapped all of the artists who are doing significant work in glass from the U.S., and also from Northwest Canada,” says Letitia Chambers, former CEO of the Heard Museum and co-curator of the show with Cathy Short (Potawatomi). She adds that she was surprised and delighted to watch the show grow to represent the entire lifespan of Native glass work. Early works include pieces from IAIA student Larry Avakana (Inupiaq) and his teacher Carl Ponca (Osage). Second-generation glass artists such as Preston Singletary (Tlingit) and Dan Friday (Lummi) are represented, as well as contemporary Pueblo artists such as Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo) and Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), who primarily work in other mediums.
“For art lovers in New Mexico, it’s going to be an exhibit that’s worthy of their support.” Chambers traces the genesis of the exhibition to a conversation she had with New more than 20 years ago. Before his death in 2002, New told Chambers how the Studio Glass and contemporary American Indian art movements came together to create an art genre all its own: Native American glass art. Chambers always knew she wanted to tell that particular story. After she left the Heard, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture director Della Warrior convinced Chambers to bring Clearly Indigenous to Museum Hill. An accompanying book from Museum of New Mexico Press is also in the works.
8 museumfoundation.org
