Fusing Traditions

Fusing Traditions: Transformations in Glass by Native American Artists

April 15, 2005

Corning, NY- The Rockwell Museum of Western Art will present, as one of four special exhibitions this year, Fusing Traditions: Transformations in Glass by Native American Artists May 7 - July 24, 2005. Complementing the Rockwell Museum's broad permanent collection of Native American art, this exhibition introduces the first generation of Native American studio glass artists. These eighteen artists fuse cultural heritage and individual creativity into dazzling new glass forms. This traveling exhibition features thirty-seven artworks and was organized by the Museum of Craft & Folk Art (MOCFA) in San Francisco, California.

The exhibit will open with a reception at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May 6th at the Rockwell Museum. Kids 17 and under and Museum members are invited free of charge. The public is encouraged to attend; admission to the event for not-yet-members is $6.50. Reservations can be made by calling 607.974.2333

The Rockwell Museum of Western Art is open to the public seven days a week; regular hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and extended hours Memorial Day - Labor Day 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. The museum is located on the corner of Denison Parkway and Cedar Street in Corning.

Meet the Artists:

Fusing Traditions recognizes an important artistic movement that began in the 1970s when Tony Jojola (Isleta Pueblo) first experimented in glass at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Most recently, Preston Singletary (Tlingit) realized his dream when a cedar totem pole with glass and neon components was raised at the Pilchuck Glass School in celebration of the school's thirtieth anniversary. Influenced by their experience at the glass school, master carvers Joe David (Nuu-cha-nulth), John Hagen (Alaskan Native), and Wayne Price (Tlingit), began to experiment with glass in their subsequent art. This artistic exchange demonstrates the strength of the ties between the Pilchuck Glass School and the vigor of the Native American artists who have studied there. The movement continues, as both Jojola and Singletary teach Native students in Seattle and Taos. Two of Singletary's students are represented in the exhibition. The artwork of Robert Tannahill (Mohawk/Metis) and Brian Barber (Pawnee) have broken with the functional and decorative origins of glass to create enigmatic and authoritative forms based in their cultural traditions. Both artists are working in a cultural realm where the visible is not always legible to the uninitiated, yet even the culturally initiated will find these figures in glass startlingly new.

In Fusing Traditions, cultural art forms - beadwork, pottery, masks, spindle whorls, dance wands, and hats - are reinvigorated and re-imagined. Preston Singletary and Susan Point (Coast Salish) use the strong Northwest Coast imagery of their cultures to create revolutionary new glass forms in sand blasted and carved glass. Tony Jojola transforms pottery shapes into light-filled blown glass vessels. Drawing from American popular culture, Marcus Amerman's (Choctaw) glass-bead art relocates Native American art in the twenty-first century. The exhibition also includes the artwork of Larry Ahvakana (Inupiaq), Michael Carius (Siberian Y'upic), Conrad House (Navajo), Clarissa Hudson (Tlingit), Ramson Lomatewama (Hopi), Ed Archie NoiseCat (Salish), Marvin Oliver (Quinalt), Shaun Peterson (Salish), and C. S. Tarpley (Choctaw). The neon artwork of David Svenson, a non-Native American, is featured in this exhibition at the request of his students who honor him. He has been an influential teacher at the Pilchuck Glass School for many of the Native artists.

Museum of Craft and Folk Art and Exhibit Background:

The exhibition, organized by the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco, California with co-curators Carolyn Kastner and Roslyn Tunis, will travel for two years. The Los Angeles Museum of Craft and Folk Art, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, the Anchorage Museum of Art and History in Alaska, the Alaska State Museum in Juneau, Alaska and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Connecticut will host the exhibition from 2003 to 2005.

The companion catalogue, Fusing Traditions: Transformations in Glass by Native American Artists, interprets the cross-cultural development of these studio artists, who draw from their individual cultural roots to create a new language of American art in glass. The 92-page catalogue features a foreword by the distinguished glass artist William Morris, color plates of the artwork, artist biographies, and four essays. Leading scholars, artists, and curators trace the history of studio glass art in the United States and the context of the emergence of this movement in American art. This catalogue will be available for purchase at the hosting venue or by calling MOCFA at 415.775.0991, ext. 211 or through the MOCFA website at www.mocfa.org

The Museum of Craft & Folk Art (MOCFA) promotes the understanding and appreciation of human expression, ranging from utilitarian objects to contemporary art. This is accomplished through innovative exhibitions of craft and folk art from cultures past and present, educational programs, and publications.

The Museum of Craft & Folk Art (formerly the San Francisco Craft & Folk Art Museum) was founded in 1983 and is the only museum of its kind in northern California. Its unique exhibition program is dedicated to contemporary craft, American folk art, and traditional cultural art. For 20 years, the Museum has offered acclaimed exhibitions, educational programs, and publications dedicated to the understanding of human expression, ranging from utilitarian objects to contemporary art. The Museum presents innovative and enlightening exhibitions that challenge conventional definitions of art. Changing exhibitions are complemented by a gift shop featuring handmade objects respecting the Museum's focus. The Museum of Craft & Folk Art School Program offers hands-on presentations that introduce Bay Area children to the central role of folk art in traditional cultures around the world. To learn more about the Museum of Craft & Folk Art please visit our web site at www.mocfa.org or contact MOCFA at Fort Mason Center, Building A, San Francisco, CA 94123, phone 415-775-0991, fax 415-775-1861.

Fusing Traditions has been generously supported by Dorothy & George Saxe, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.