SUNY Oneonta will host a group exhibition featuring New York state indigenous peoples’ art in celebration of the inauguration of college President Barbara Jean Morris.
“The Land on Which We Gather” is an exhibition of more than 40 works of art by eight different artists, featuring oil, acrylic, watercolor and gouache paintings; stone sculpture; photography; mixed-media sculpture; beadwork; and video. The exhibition will run from Sept. 3 to Oct. 18 in the college’s Martin-Mullen Art Gallery, located inside the Fine Arts Center.
A public opening reception on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. will include an artist gallery talk at 5:45 p.m., refreshments, and live music by the SUNY Oneonta Jazz Ensemble.
Opening Reception: Sept. 5, from 5-7 p.m.
Artist Gallery Talk: 5:45 p.m.
Location: Martin-Mullen Gallery
This exhibition is being held in conjunction with Dr. Morris’ inauguration, which will take place Oct. 5. As a leader who is deeply committed to diversity, Dr. Morris chose the exhibition as part of her celebration to allow the campus and community to experience the varied work created by the indigenous peoples of New York.
Featured artists include Eric Gansworth, G. Peter Jemison, Jolene Rickard, Luanne Redeye, Melanie Hope, Peter B. Jones, Tom Huff, and non-native artists Beatrice Glow and Alexandre Girardeau in collaboration with Brent Stonefish, culture bearer of the Lenape Nation.
Special thanks goes to Colette Lemmon, curator of exhibitions at the Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, New York, for her expertise in consultation, and to the museum for its generous loan of several pieces of artwork for this exhibition.
About the Artists
Eric Gansworth, Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan, is a writer and visual artist who was born and raised at the Tuscarora Nation. He has written and illustrated numerous books. He is a professor of English and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College in Buffalo.
G. Peter Jemison, Seneca Nation, Heron Clan, is a prolific artist whose work has explored a variety of topics, from political to contemporary social commentary to his relationship with the natural world. A leading authority on the subject of Haudenosaunee history, Jemison co-edited the book Treaty of Canandaigua 1794: 200 Years of Treaty Relations between the Iroquois Confederacy and the United States.
Jolene Rickard, Tuscarora Nation, Turtle Clan, is a photographer, installation artist, curator and visual historian at Cornell University, specializing in indigenous peoples’ issues.
Luanne Redeye, Seneca Nation of Indians and Hawk Clan, grew up on the Allegany Indian Reservation in western New York. She is a figurative artist whose work is at the intersection of autobiography and community.
Melanie Printup Hope, of Tuscarora and European descent, was raised on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation in western New York. She has developed an extensive body of embroidered beadwork and is an associate professor at Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto.
Peter B. Jones, Onondaga Nation, Beaver Clan, is a member in the Native Roots Artists Guild. He is a renowned clay artist, a master of utilitarian craft and a ceramic sculptor of poignant figures and objects, often relating to complex social indigenous concerns.
Tom Huff, Seneca/Cayuga, is a sculptor who works with a variety of stones, showing different traditional and contemporary styles and themes. He also creates mixed media/found-object sculptures. In his pieces, Huff deals with the current situation of Native American peoples, combining cultural, stereotypical, political and autobiographical elements.
Beatrice Glow, a non-native, Taiwanese American, works in partnership with Alexandre Girardeau as an interdisciplinary and multi-sensory storyteller whose work highlights human interconnectivity while amplifying stories lying in the shadows of colonialism, migration and inequality. Glow brings the collaboration “Mannahatta VR: Envisioning Lenapeway” to our gallery, representing the Lenape Nation history past and present on one Broadway block.
About the Gallery
The Martin-Mullen Art Gallery and Project Space Gallery are free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday when the college is in session and during special events. For more information about the gallery or upcoming exhibitions, contact Gallery Director Tim Sheesley at (607) 436-3456.