National Cowboy Hall of Fame
Oklahoma City, OK
405-478-2250
http://www.cowboyhalloffame.org/
Winter Camp: Honoring the Legacy - Contemporary
Expressions of Oklahoma Tribal Art
On January 15, 2000, a special exhibition and sale featuring Oklahoma
Tribal Arts entitled "Winter Camp: Honoring the Legacy - Contemporary
Expressions of Oklahoma Tribal Art," will open at the National Cowboy
Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. In 1998, in an effort to raise
public awareness of Native Oklahoma artists, Richard Atison, Frank Sheridan,
and Nancy Johnson brought together a group of artists for a small exhibition
entitled Winter Camp. Following the successful endeavor, the artists
approached the museum with a proposal to host this unique show on a larger
scale. Thirty-one artists with an Oklahoma tribal connection will display
their works for the first time as an organized group. (left: Barthell
Little Chief, Eagle Vision)
For the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage
Center, this exhibition is a natural extension of a program initiated in
1996 with the acquisition of the Arthur and Shifra Silberman Collection
of Native American fine art. The goal of the museum is to continue to build
upon the legacy of this exceptional collection with an associated exhibition
and educational
programming, making it more inclusive of present and future artists.
T.C. Cannon, a Native American of Kiowa-Caddo ancestry
who was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, could be considered the impetus for this
unique exhibition. By the time Cannon was 16, he was studying at the Institute
of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Although he was only 33 when he died
in an automobile accident, he had already become widely recognized both
nationally and internationally. Along with other contemporary artists such
as Parker Boyiddle, Benjamin Buffalo, Doug Hyde, Sherman Chaddleson, Earl
Eder, Linda Lamahaftewa, Kevin Red Star, and others, Cannon helped to revise
and replace old paternalistic "craft" concepts with a new, vigorous
doctrine of "art by artists who happen to be Indian."
2000
Winter Camp: Honoring the Legacy features Oklahoma
Native American art as it has developed since the death of T.C. Cannon.
For the organizers of this show, this seemed to be an appropriate starting
point, since four of the artists, Sherman Chaddleson, Parker Boyiddle, Benjamin
Harjo, Jr., and Karita Coffey began their careers as classmates of T.C.
Cannon. Winter Camp is how they have chosen to honor Cannon's legacy.
(left: Frank Sheridan, Beaded Mirror Bag)
Artists participating in the exhibition include Victoria
Adams, Marcus Amerman, Richard Aitson, Parker Boyiddle, Bruce Caesar, Sherman
Chaddleson, Karita Coffey, Mel Cornshucker, Tom Fields, Anita Fields, Bill
Glass, Jr., Gina Gray, Keri Ataumbi Greeves, Teri Greeves, Benjamin Harjo,
Jr., Nancy J. Johnson, Brent L. Learnerd, Barthell Little Chief, Merlin
Little Thunder, Robby McMurtry, Raymond Curtis Nordwall, Jane Hitchcock
Osti, Harvey Pratt, Austin Real Rider, Connie Seabourn, Norman F. Sheridan,
Harvetta Big Bow Sheridan, Dana Tiger, Jim Van Deman, Tillier Wesley, and
Richard Whitman.
A special symposium will take place on Saturday, January
15 in the S.B. "Burk" Burnett Board 
Room from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Featured guest artist
speakers include Karita Coffey, Bruce Caesar, Benjamin Harjo, Jr., Tom and
Anita Fields, and Frank Sheridan. Cost is $5 for Hall members and students,
and $10 for non-members. (right: Jane Hitchcock Osti, Eastern
Woodlands-style Vessel)
Today, Oklahoma is home to over 30 different federally
recognized tribes, each with their own distinct heritage, culture, and artistic
expression. Whether it is paint and palette, stone, clay, metal, bead, buckskin,
or feather, each piece in the show somehow directly or indirectly, touches
the artists' own tribal legacy. Items in the show will range from $200 to
$25,000. Most will be available for purchase. A catalogue will be available
for purchase in the museum store.
Read more about the National
Cowboy Hall of Fame in Resource
Library Magazine
rev. 11/26/10
Search Resource
Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art.
Copyright 2010 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights
reserved.
On January 15, 2000, a special exhibition and sale featuring Oklahoma
Tribal Arts entitled "Winter Camp: Honoring the Legacy - Contemporary
Expressions of Oklahoma Tribal Art," will open at the National Cowboy
Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. In 1998, in an effort to raise
public awareness of Native Oklahoma artists, Richard Atison, Frank Sheridan,
and Nancy Johnson brought together a group of artists for a small exhibition
entitled Winter Camp. Following the successful endeavor, the artists
approached the museum with a proposal to host this unique show on a larger
scale. Thirty-one artists with an Oklahoma tribal connection will display
their works for the first time as an organized group. (left: Barthell
Little Chief, Eagle Vision)
