Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass

Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass
December 15, 2023–April 7, 2024
The Thomas R. Schiff Gallery (Gallery 234)
Ticketed. Free for Members
Friends of Decorative Art & Design
Friends of Contemporary Art
Press Release

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Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass celebrates a broad range of contemporary Native American and Indigenous Pacific-Rim artists working in glass. Featuring 120 pieces by 33 artists, the groundbreaking exhibition showcases works that reinterpret Traditional Stories and iconography, express contemporary issues affecting Indigenous Nations today, and meld Indigenous Traditions and Knowledge with the aesthetics and properties unique to the medium of glass.

The exhibition emerges from the historical context of the Native Glass Art Movement which began in the 1970s when Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee)—a founder of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico—initiated a collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to create a glass blowing program at the IAIA. RISD sent early-career artist Dale Chihuly to the IAIA for one month to assist in establishing the program and the hot shop that would grow to inspire generations of Indigenous artists to explore the expressive potential of glass.

Clearly Indigenous features artists who illustrate the lasting relationships and collaborative nature inherent within global studio glass today. Among those included are Dan Friday (Lummi), “Haila” Ho Wan Ut Old Peter (Skokomish/Chehalis), Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Tony Jojola (Isleta Pueblo), Carol Lujan (Diné), Priscilla Cowie (Māori) and Djambawa Marawili (Aboriginal Australian).

Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass was originated by The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The traveling exhibition was curated by Dr. Letitia Chambers, is toured by International Arts & Artists, and is accompanied by a catalog published by the Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe.

During the run of Clearly Indigenous, visit the museum’s Conversations Gallery on the first floor near the main entrance. The museum curated this gallery in collaboration with Cincinnati’s Urban Native Collective (UNC) to increase understanding and generate dialogue about the contemporary experiences of Indigenous Peoples. Presenting additional examples of glass art drawn from Clearly Indigenous and multi-media components developed by UNC, this project emphasizes the interconnected nature of the environmental and social justice activism being undertaken by Indigenous communities locally and globally.