Beadwork artist Murphy Adams to be Great Plains artist-in-residence

            Beadwork artist Molly Murphy Adams will be the Great Plains Art Museum's 2013 Elizabeth Rubendall artists-in-residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from April 23 through May 3.

            Murphy Adams will create a sculptural beadwork that will become part of the museum's permanent collection. The commissioned artwork will blend Native and non-Native imagery and patterns including parflesche designs, cartography, historic events and flora and fauna from the Great Plains region.

            The public is welcome to observe and interact with the artist while she works. Murphy Adams will be creating from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays during the residency. An interactive area will give visitors a chance to try different beadwork techniques. Groups may arrange tours by contacting museum curator Amber Mohr at 402-472-0599.  

            The Great Plains Art Museum will have a concurrent solo exhibition of Murphy Adams' works from April 23 through May 26, "Relative Position: The Sculptural Beadwork of Molly Murphy Adams," with a First Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on May 3. Many of her artworks will be available for sale, and Murphy Adams will donate 25 percent of proceeds to support programs and acquisitions at the Great Plains Art Museum.

            The museum is open to the public 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sundays. There is no admission charge.

            Murphy Adams' commission for the residency will be the first work of hers included in the Great Plains Art Museum permanent collection, but museum visitors may recognize her from her participation in the 2012 juried exhibition, "Contemporary Indigeneity: The New Art of the Great Plains." Her work, "Parflesche Abstraction," was given the Bobby Penn Award by juror Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie.

            "My style is different in that I am combining native and non-native techniques," Murphy Adams said. "I freely mix in embroidery and quilting techniques as well as modern aesthetics. By making really modern pieces like boxes and sculptures I am diverging from the historical timeline and making something new."

            "We are very excited for Molly Murphy Adams to be our artist-in-residence," said Amber Mohr, curator of the museum. "Her beadworking skill is impeccable, and she has the ability to engage all age levels in her artwork creation. Engaging people with the process of artwork rather than just the product of a finished artwork is fundamental to understanding and appreciating art, and we're glad the Elizabeth Rubendall Foundation recognizes the importance of this type of educational experience."

            This is the seventh year that the artist-in-residence program has been supported by the Rubendall Foundation.

            "This is a terrific program that the Elizabeth Rubendall Foundation has allowed us to present," said Richard Edwards, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, which includes the Great Plains Art Museum. "It's amazing to see how every visitor, from school groups to ordinary museum goers, to other working artists, learns so much for watching an artist work. It is an exceptional experience for the artist and the audience to share in the art-making process."

            Murphy Adams was born in Great Falls, Mont. She is a mixed-blood descendent of the Oglala, Lakota tribe, and earned her bachelor in fine arts degree from the University of Montana in 2004. She lives with her family in Tulsa, Okla., and her work is included in several public art collections, including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Kan., the Exploration Works Museum in Helena, Mont., the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Mont., the Missoula Art Museum in Missoula, Mont., the J.W. Wiggins Collection in Little Rock, Ark., and the Art 4 Culture, Harborview Hospital in Seattle.