westernartgirl
luckygrrrRepackaging a Delicate Treasure
Sophie Hunter, collections associate for the Autry’s Southwest Museum Project, looks over a worn cardboard box marked “Mojave” to figure out how to unpack it. Inside is a confused mass of tissue, packing peanuts and bubble wrap, and inside that is an ancient-looking ceramic urn with designs painted in red. Hunter knows it is not … Read more
John Bradley on American Indian Culture: Learn Everything
Updated Mar. 7 — Native American elders and artists often pick one tradition to focus on in their ongoing efforts to preserve and promote their tribal heritage. Learning and mastering that skill usually takes such dedication that it’s difficult to branch out. So these culture bearers dance, say, or do beadwork, or tell stories, or … Read more
Conserving the Perishable Parts of Native American Heritage
When the Autry National Center was created in 2003, staffers immediately began working to conserve the collection of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, one of its original component institutions. It’s a task they should finish by 2013. Why so long? Well, the threats the collection faces are legion. Age, of course, is an … Read more
A Showcase for Native American Art — by Kids!
In keeping with the Autry’s apparent mission to turn little-used spaces into destinations within the museum, the Overlook Gallery, a covered balcony directly above the Trails West activity area, is now Our West, a space dedicated to showcasing art by Southern California students. Collectors, by the way, are welcome. Right now, Our West is showing … Read more
Formerly “Dead” Space Comes Alive With Navajo Blankets
If you’ve been to the Autry recently, you may have noticed them as you headed to the downstairs galleries: a row of five large Navajo blankets, resplendent in their colors and intricate design, lining one hallway above Heritage Court. They quietly appeared around mid-September, filling a formerly blank wall in an area used only as … Read more
Shelley Morningsong Reclaims her Tribal Heritage
Shelley Morningsong, a Native American contemporary singer and flute player scheduled to perform at the Autry’s American Indian Arts Marketplace on Nov. 6 and 7, grew up in a musical family: her grandfather played the banjo, her grandmother taught piano, her mother played piano and accordion, and her uncle played the trumpet. But it took … Read more
A Welcome Mat to View Some Very Special Scraps of Cloth
A couple of really specialized groups visited the Autry this month to get a behind-the-scenes look at some very rare artifacts. On Oct. 23, 20 members of several Southern California quilting guilds arrived to look at historic quilts in the Autry’s collection that are not currently on display. And on Oct. 9, the North American … Read more
The Marketing of an Ancient Culture
Is it fair game for a person to trade on his/her cultural traditions by selling them as art to outsiders? Does the label “art” ever depend on a person’s ethnicity? Native American artists wrestle with these questions all the time. And they are worth examining as the Autry’s American Indian Arts Marketplace 2010, the largest … Read more
So . . . Rug Mystery Solved!
Well, I took my mystery rug to trader Jackson Clark on Friday evening just before the Autry’s preview event for the Navajo rug silent auction, which by the way had an attendance of 165. Clark was nice enough, between hanging rugs and unfolding chairs, to take a look at my rug. His verdict, in a … Read more
A Personal Navajo Rug Story
The Navajo/Diné rugs for Saturday’s auction are online, and they are breathtaking. You can take a look at them here. To bid on one or more of them, follow the link and the instructions. Meantime, I’ll tell you my rug story. Because doesn’t everybody have one? Several years ago, I lived in Arizona and was … Read more
