Indigenous Influences
Exhibition Dates: January 14 to March 26, 2017
As a part of the Dana and Toni Ann Rust Curatorial Fellowship at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Washington, I began in June 2016 to program an exhibition on how the group known as the Northwest Mystics, comprised of mainly Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson, were influenced by Pacific Northwest Indigenous nations.
One of my main objectives was to work with the local Swinomish Tribe to start to establish relationships between the museum and the nation. By working with the Swinomish community, Swinomish history and stories could be represented to the local non-Indigenous community.
Programming for this exhibition included a panel discussion on cultural appropriation of Indigenous artworks with Cowlitz author Elissa Washuta and the former Tribal Historical Preservation Officer for the Swinomish Tribal Community Larry Campbell held on February 19. On March 5, there was also a curator’s talk featuring one of the only Indigenous artists in the Museum of Northwest Art’s permanent collection, Julius Twohy. Finally, there was over 5 classroom visits by local schools, as well as an opening reception held on January 14.
Regan Shrumm 