“Each One Inspired: Indigenous Art Across the Homelands”
Highlights of the exhibition include art by G. Peter Jemison and Ken D. Williams Jr.
September 6, 2023 | nysed.gov
A new exhibition, Each One Inspired: Indigenous Art Across the Homelands, is now open for the public to view at the New York State Museum, State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced today. The new exhibition which features more than 60 original creations of Indigenous artwork by artists whose homelands lie within what is now New York will be open through March 2024. This collection of contemporary art focuses on Indigenous histories, teachings, and communities and how they relate to and inspire our relationships and connections to our environment.
Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said, “Indigenous art is significant because it captures the culture, traditions, and expressions of native communities. This new exhibition will help to foster a deeper understanding of their perspectives and help to promote cultural diversity and appreciation of the identities and contributions of Indigenous people to the history of our State.”
State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said, “When experiencing this new exhibition, Museum guests will have the opportunity to make strong connections with Indigenous art, heritage, and traditions and how they relate to the profound history of New York State. Furthermore, the display of this exceptional collection helps to promote cross-cultural understanding while also sharing unique artistic expressions and the resilience of Indigenous people.”
The exhibition is organized in interrelated themes which are central to Indigenous art and culture: Lands; Ancestors and Histories; Community, Nation, and Family; and Plants and Animals.
Highlights of the exhibition include:
G. Peter Jemison
Onöndowa’ga:’ (Seneca)
1687 War (after Guernica), 2015
Acrylic, watercolor, and pencil on hot press paper
Ganondagan State Historic Site, where Peter was the site manager from 1985 to 2022, is located on what was once a Seneca village. In 1687, the French forces attacked the village. However, they were outsmarted by the Seneca who sent their women and children safely away and burned the remaining crops and longhouses before the French could destroy them. Jemison’s painting references Picasso’s Guernica (1937) to make a statement about the horrors of warfare.
Ken D. Williams Jr.
Onöndowa’ga:’ (Seneca) and Arapaho
We Continue Her Beautiful Legacy, 2019
Glass beads, Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, silk, polished Quahog shell
Gahano, or Caroline Parker, (1826–1892) was an extraordinary beadwork artist from the Tonawanda Seneca Nation. Her brother, Ely Parker, introduced her to his friend, anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan, in the mid-1840s. With the assistance of the Parker family, Morgan donated a collection of Haudenosaunee material culture items to New York State between 1847 and 1851.
Morgan commissioned a series of daguerreotypes featuring members of the Parker family, including one with Gahano that serves as the model for Williams’s portrayal of her on his beaded bag. The garments Gahano wears were made by her and are part of the State Museum’s collections. Gahano’s legacy to Haudenosaunee beadworkers continues to influence artists, including Williams, who lovingly depicts her in Swarovski crystals and vintage glass beads, surrounded by designs from the beadwork for which she is well known.
For more information: https://www.nysed.gov/news/2023/new-york-state-museum-opens-exhibition-each-one-inspired-indigenous-art-across-homelands
