Identity and the Artist 2004

ROCKWELL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART PRESENTS IDENTITY AND THE ARTIST

February 9, 2004

Are there common themes that connect the history of America's Native people, world events today, and hip hop culture? Students from the Corning-Painted Post Area School District's High School Learning Center explored all of these ideas in preparation for a new special exhibition at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. Titled Identity and the Artist, the exhibit features mixed media works that students created to reflect their interpretations of what happens when cultures collide.

The exhibition runs from February 18 through March 7, 2004, during the museum's regular hours: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., seven days a week. Museum admission is $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for seniors. Young people 17 and under are admitted free of charge.

Identity and the Artist is the culmination of an interdisciplinary learning project developed cooperatively by High School Learning Center teachers and museum staff. "We wanted to talk with our students about the clash of cultures that happened in our country's history between Native Americans and European Americans, and that continues to happen in the world," says Margie Van Vleet, Lead teacher of the High School Learning Center. "The Rockwell Museum of Western Art's fine collection and facility were perfect for us to integrate elements of our curriculum."

The museum's director of education, Gigi Alvare, developed the visual arts portion of the project to enhance the High School Learning Center's objectives for English language arts and American history. Students first explored how the collection at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art depicts the conflict between native and non-native cultures. They then focused on the contemporary painting NDN (for life) by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith as a catalyst for understanding how dominant cultural norms influence their own identities and how others perceive them.

Quick-to-See Smith depicts a Native dress with her identity, "NDN FOR LIFE," emblazoned on the front. Yet beneath the translucent surface of the painting lie many more complex symbols and ideas. "NDN (for life) delves into questions of individual Native identity," explains Alvare. "It was the ideal vehicle to engage high school students thinking about how they would express themselves artistically, visually, and symbolically, through writing as well as visual art." In creating their works of art, students were asked to reflect their own personal and cultural identity, and the tensions that surround it.

Ryan Butler, a High School Learning Center student who interns at the museum, created a mixed media hip hop collage that includes an original rap song about perceptions of hip hop culture. Butler thinks the personalized, integrated approach to the unit has been the key to making the subject relevant to students. "It was a good way for people to reflect on themselves," he says. "You learn that while you can judge someone by what they look like or wear, you don't know what they're really like until you walk around in their shoes."

Identity and the Artist is one of the many school programs the Rockwell Museum of Western Art offers to help teachers achieve student learning objectives. All are designed in cooperation with grade level educators and language arts specialists to align with grade level curriculum and meet New York State standards.

The Rockwell Museum owns one of the largest and finest collections of Western American art in the United States and provides the public with a chance to see The Best of the West in the East. All of the museum's exhibits and services - colorful thematic galleries, events, art packs for children, Trading Post gift shop, and the adjacent Cantina - reflect the people, places and ideas of the West. Visitors to the museum are immersed in an authentic Western experience.

The Museum is grateful for the financial support of its members, donors, and Corning Incorporated, and for public funding from the New York State Council on the Arts.

The Rockwell Museum of Western Art is located in downtown Corning, New York, just off historic Market Street. Visitors are welcome seven days a week, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Further information is available by calling (607) 937-5386.