Great Plains Art Museum exhibits modern Native American art

A new permanent collection exhibition at the Great Plains Art Museum, "Ceremonial Dancing and Collaborative Spirits: Modern Native American Art," surveys the traditional studio style of modern Native American art, from the mid-1920s to the mid-1990s, with a purposely narrowed focus of works on paper.

The exhibition is guest-curated by Great Plains Art Museum graduate assistant Kimberly Minor, who also authored an accompanying exhibition catalog.

While the style is traditionally defined by highly stylized, flatly painted images of social and religious ceremonies, it has survived and progressed for more than 70 years largely unanalyzed by the art community. This exhibition explores the progression of both formal technique and expressive political content as its creators move from ethnographic precision to personal reflections of community identity.

Artists in the exhibition include Woody Crumbo (Potowatomi), Joe Hilario Herrera (Cochiti Pueblo), Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Sioux), George Keahbone (Kiowa), Tonita Pena (San Idefonso Pueblo), Jose Rey Toledo (Jemez Pueblo) and Andrew V. Tsinahinnie (Navajo).

"Ceremonial Dancing and Collaborative Spirits: Modern Native American Art," runs concurrent with "Double Vision: New Works by Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie." Tsinhnahjinnie is the daughter of Tsinahinnie.

The Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., is open to the public 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30-5 p.m. Sundays (closed Mondays, holiday weekends and between exhibitions). There is no admission charge. For more information, telephone (402) 472-6220, e-mail gpac2@unl.edu, visit www.unl.edu/plains/gallery/gallery.shtml, or contact museum curator Amber Mohr at (402) 472-0599 or by e-mail.

WRITER: Amber Mohr