In the subject of Native American representation within the art museum, I reflected on my personal experiences of walking through exhibits and what I have noticed. One main thing that I realized was how Native American art is almost exclusively seen in Natural History Museums rather than Art Museum institutions. This was particularly evident for me during my freshman year of college. I was a part of the art and design residential community on campus and one of the opportunities I had access to was a private walk through the “Ar-Ti-Fact” exhibit by artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. I also had to opportunity of meeting Cannupa Hanska Luger and hear him talk about his exhibit and experiences as a Native American artist. That experience was enlightening as I was confounded that the exhibit was displayed in the Natural and Cultural History Museum on campus and not the JSMA. In the case of this particular artist, he really owned that presence and wanted his art to incite a dialogue behind natural history, cultural history, and contemporary art. As much as he embraced his artwork’s presence in a Natural History Museum, I was stunned to realize how little I have actually seen Native American representation in contemporary art museums.

I spent a few years living in El Paso and that experience allowed me to see Latinx and Native American artists run the art scene within the community. That presence defined art for me and I got to see how art can be the heart of identity and community. As I moved to Colorado when I was 15, I was stunned to see how art was defined outside of the Southwest. That summer of 2015, my dad and I went to the Denver Art Museum four different times. Each visit I discovered something new about art, but remained a little disappointed and shocked to find the whiteness of the institution. That year I had the pleasure of seeing the “Revolt 1680 2180” exhibit by Virgil Ortiz that was mentioned in the Ash-Milby article. That exhibit was inspiring and I finally got to see the art as defined by what I was previously familiar with. During the remaining years I lived in Colorado, I was craving more exhibits like the Virgil Ortiz exhibit but was unable to see much more strong diverse representation. During my last year in Colorado, I was 18 and dragged my dad and brother to the Colorado History Museum during prom weekend (as an anti-prom celebration). It was such a fun day but I was stunned to realize that even in the history museum, the Native American representation was shoved into a small corner where the baseball exhibit took up half a floor. The white washing was startling and really opened my eyes to the disparity of representation in many American museums.

 

Reading Sources:

Ash-Milby, Kathleen, and Ruth B. Phillips. “Inclusivity or Sovereignty? Native American Arts in the Gallery and the Museum since 1992.” Art Journal, vol. 76, no. 2, 2017, pp. 10–38

Besaw, Mindy N., et al. Art for a New Understanding, pp. 4–15.

Image and Other Sources:

“Ar-Ti-Fact.” Museum of Natural and Cultural History, mnch.uoregon.edu/exhibits/ar-ti-fact.

“Revolt 1680/2180.” Revolt 1680 2180 Virgil Ortiz | Denver Art Museum, www.denverartmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/revolt-1680-2180-virgil-ortiz.