{"id":36973,"date":"2022-12-01T18:15:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T01:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/to-challenge-to-learn-and-or-heal\/"},"modified":"2022-12-02T01:15:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T01:15:14","slug":"to-challenge-to-learn-and-or-heal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/to-challenge-to-learn-and-or-heal\/","title":{"rendered":"To challenge, to learn and\/or heal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gregg
Gregg Dean\u00a0is the first Native American Artist-in-Residence at FLC. (Courtesy)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Three current related exhibits continue the spirit of November\u2019s Native American Heritage Month. You can see all three now: two at Fort Lewis College and one at the Powerhouse Science Center. FLC\u2019s shows are contemplative and challenging. The Powerhouse exhibit interweaves Western science and TEK \u2013 Traditional Ecological Knowledge.<\/p>\n

FLC Art Gallery<\/div>\n

The newest exhibit at the FLC Art Gallery is a work in progress by multi-disciplinary artist Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe). Deal is the first Native American Artist in Residence at FLC. Since early November, he\u2019s re-created the gallery as a working studio. With short breaks to complete other professional commitments and to visit his family, Deal is \u201cin residence\u201d until Dec. 16. The public is invited to meet him at a reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 8).<\/p>\n

\"Gregg
Gregg Dean\u00a0is the first Native American Artist-in-Residence at FLC. (Courtesy)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Affable and articulate, Deal 47, describes himself as a \u201cdisruptor,\u201d challenging cultural stereotypes through paintings, graphics, film and performance art. Two weeks ago, he gave a public talk in which he described his life, family and career. You can check his online presence in a TEDx-Boulder talk and other filmed interviews about his provocative approach to art and culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestion everything,\u201d he said at FLC. \u201cI tackle things like stereotyping, quantum blood and decolonization,\u201d emphasizing the use of history and critical thinking as tools.<\/p>\n

Outlining his path to art activism, Deal discussed negative and positive discoveries in college as a painting and film student, followed by a transformative experience at the National Museum of the American Indian. It was there Deal met James Luna, already a nationally known \u201cCulture Warrior\u201d and the first sponsored artist at the museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cMucky-mucks asked him to exhibit in 2005, at the Venice Biennale,\u201d Deal said. \u201cLuna got a Ford Foundation grant, which included me. When I told my wife, she said: \u2018Go. You have to find your voice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In the years since, Deal has clearly found his voice and purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI juxtapose what Americans think we are, what Americans see,\u201d he said about the romanticized nationalism that grips the mainstream, \u201cand what we, Native Americans, see.\u201d To underscore his point, Deal showed images from several of his projects including: \u201cThe Last American Indian on Earth,\u201d \u201cExistence as Protest\u201d and \u201cInvisible Loss Movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cForty percent of Americans think Native Americans are extinct,\u201d Deal said. \u201cArt gives shape to cultural change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Center of Southwest Studies<\/div>\n

\u201cAs Seeds We Grow\u201d is on view at FLC until April. In contrast to Deal\u2019s high-octane activism, the exhibition quietly explores student reactions to the college\u2019s problematic history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exhibit explores student identity and cultural resilience with consideration to For Lewis College\u2019s history as a federal boarding school,\u201d Elise Boulanger said at the opening last April. \u201cWe came together collaboratively to untangle the complexities of this history.\u201d<\/p>\n

A student when she first organized the show, Boulanger (Osage Nation) is now a curatorial fellow at the center.<\/p>\n

Subtitled \u201cStudent Reflections on Resilience,\u201d the exhibit contains a variety of responses to the boarding-school chapter as well as colonization in general. A spectrum of remembrance to contemporary commentary is apparent from Camela Manheimer\u2019s (Navajo) photo prints overlaid with dried flowers to Maddie Sanders\u2019 (Mvskoke and Mojave) gabardine shawl with nylon fringe and vinyl letters that read \u201cEvery Child Matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to current student works, Boulanger incorporated artwork from former students and archival objects from the center\u2019s collection. A Germantown blanket from the 1880s contrasts with miniature weavings that Boulanger inspired in teaching sessions.<\/p>\n

And then there is Paige Brown\u2019s (Din\u00e9) oil painting, \u201cVengeance of the Virtuous,\u201d which seems to be an outlier in this generally contemplative atmosphere for its violent imagery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI aimed to flip the script and allow the victims of a harmful gaze to indulge in violence as retribution against a long-time attacker,\u201d Brown\u2019s statement says.<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s alternate view sits at one end of a spectrum that illustrates many modes of resilience. That multiplicity seems to be central to Boulanger\u2019s curatorial vision.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cRoots
\u201cRoots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge, Shared Science\u201d takes a balanced approach to the connections between Indigenous and Western ways of viewing the natural world. (Courtesy)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
The Powerhouse<\/div>\n

\u201cRoots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge, Shared Science\u201d takes a balanced approach to the connections between Indigenous and Western ways of viewing the natural world.<\/p>\n

The exhibit was developed in a partnership between a Native, nonprofit organization (Indigenous Education Institute) a large museum (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and four Native communities. Each community shared stories of revitalization and restoration of land and waters. Throughout, the dialogue between Western science and traditional ecological knowledge underscores the importance of balance in accordance with natural cycles.<\/p>\n

Divided into five thematic areas, the exhibit first introduces Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science. Four sections illuminate topics from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Native Hawaiians, Tulalip Tribes and the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla. A different theme is introduced in each from re-establishing a Native plant to restoring fish ponds and rediscovering traditional foods. In addition to text panels, images and videos, artifacts and hands-on stations invite visitors to learn about the interconnectedness of nature. And as a bonus, the exhibit encourages visitors to examine personal connections to place and culture.<\/p>\n

One of the most telling examples is a display of how Native origins and innovations over time impact our lives \u2013 from chocolate to popcorn, from duck decoys to surfboards. The connections are artfully displayed with interactive stations to make it fun for kids.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s educational, and yes, it invites reflection. \u201cRoots of Wisdom\u201d is one of a new breed of exhibitions that combine multiple world views so successfully.<\/p>\n

\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

WHAT:<\/strong> Native American Artist in Residence: Gregg Deal, Artist\u2019s Reception.<\/p>\n

WHEN: <\/strong>4:30-6 p.m. Dec. 8.<\/p>\n

WHERE:<\/strong> Art Gallery, Jones Hall, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.<\/p>\n

ADMISSION: <\/strong>Free.<\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION:<\/strong> Email msclafani@fortlewis.edu<\/a>, call 247-7379 or visit www.fortlewis.edu\/art-gallery<\/a>.IF YOU GO<\/p>\n

WHAT: <\/strong>\u201cAs Seeds, We Grow,\u201d Student Reflections on Resilience.<\/p>\n

WHERE: <\/strong>Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.<\/p>\n

WHEN: <\/strong>Now through April 5.<\/p>\n

ADMISSION: <\/strong>Free.<\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION: <\/strong>Visit https:\/\/swcenter.fortlewis.edu<\/a>.IF YOU GO<\/p>\n

WHAT: <\/strong>\u201cRoots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge, Shared Science.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHEN: <\/strong>Now through Jan. 1. Hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.<\/p>\n

WHERE: <\/strong>Powerhouse Science Center. 1333 Camino del Rio.<\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION: <\/strong>Visit www.powsci.org <\/a>or call 259-9234.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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