Community News

Native American “Hashtags” Exhibition Opens at SUNY JCC Center Gallery

March 9, 2023 | sunyjcc.edu

OLEAN, N.Y. – An art exhibition showcasing current Native American hashtags is set to be on display through May 24th at SUNY Jamestown Community College’s Cattaraugus County Campus Center Gallery.

Kaycee Colburn

Created by Kaycee Colburn, JCC artist in residence through Creatives Rebuild New York, the exhibition is meant to invoke thoughts and emotions and spark a conversation about Indigenous issues that have received little media coverage today and historically. The artwork is Colburn’s way of bringing them to light in a modern way.

The images are not intended to make friends, bring happy thoughts, or be based on popular opinion. As a Seneca descendant, Colburn has personal stories tied to many of these images and this is one of the ways she tells her story.

The exhibition is free and open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays at Center Gallery, located on the second floor of the College Center at 260 N. Union St.

A native of Jamestown, Colburn is in the midst of a two-year residency at JCC through the CRNY grant. “Hashtags” is the first formal exhibition of her work in that capacity.

Colburn is a contemporary and traditional artist who works with different mediums, including oil and acrylic paints, lipsticks, soft oil pastels, glass Czech seed beads, and cornhusks. The traditional Seneca arts were passed down to her from her mother, June Jimerson, and Penny Minor, who learned from Colburn’s great aunt Dee.

Colburn aspires to continue to learn other traditional arts like pottery and basket weaving in hopes of preserving them for the next generations. She is currently enrolled at JCC taking anthropology and art classes with the goal of combining the two later on in her career as a historic art conservationist.

Beyond her work as an artist, Colburn is a published author of “A Witchlings Grimoire,” and she is working on a second book for this series.

She sits on boards of United Way, the Fenton History Center, and the local democratic committee. Colburn is also a member of the Fenton History Center gala committee. With her broad work in the community, she hopes to bring Seneca culture to local residents, making art skills easily accessible for all to learn about and admire.