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Sarah Lane — THE BATTALION
Supply chain management junior Rachel Lueckemeyer studies some of the
Native American art displayed in the MSC art galleries. The articles will be on
displayed until March 17.
Shows hit Native American
art from two perspectives
MSC art galleries displays joint
exhibits during semester
By Amanda Crownover
MSC art galleries have teamed up to dis
play Native American art in the exhibit
“Seeing Native American: Historic Impres
sions.” Caller)' workers hope to communi
cate the way an artist’s cultural background
influences his or her perception of Native
Americans.
The Forsyth Galleries will focus on Na
tive American art created by Anglo-Ameri
cans, while the Stark Galleries will focus on
art created by Native Americans to depict
themselves.
“We have, in our permanent collection,
a lot of historical art and the Stark Galleries
have some contemporary pieces by Native
American artists in their permanent collec
tion and had the opportunity to borrow
some pieces from a collector,” said Amanda
Dyer, assistant director of the Forsyth Gal
leries. “We thought it would be a good idea
to combine the two to see how contempo
rary artists interpret Native Americans and
how Native Americans depict themselves.”
Cathy Hastedt, art galleries director and
curator, helped choose pieces for the exhibit
from the Texas A&M collection as well as
from a local Bryan collector.
“I wanted to show one of the traditions in
Native American art when portraying their
own culture -— it is actually taboo to show
exactly what goes on in their ceremonies, so
what they do is portray elements of them,”
Hastedt said. “You’ll see lots of images of
singing as part of their ceremonies, you
see lots of images of elongated figures with
slit eyes and open mouths and singing and
asking for healing for someone who’s sick,
things like that.”
Angela Hudson, associate professor of
history who specializes in Native Ameri
can history and the 19th century American
South, said it’s important to provide both
sets of artistic perspectives in the exhibit.
“American Indians constitute only about
1.7 percent of the total American popula
tion, but representations of them — their
images, their histories, and their symbols —
are ubiquitous in American culture,” Hud
son said. “Everywhere you turn, there are
Indian mascots, headdresses, dream catch
ers, not to mention the abundance of Na
tive images in formal works of art, television
and film. Long before most Americans ever
meet an indigenous person, they have al
ready confronted and internalized visions of
Tndianness.’”
Hudson said this distorted perception
makes a representation of American Indians
by Native artists especially important.
“While we don’t want to reduce these
artists’ vision to merely resisting stereo
types, their work nevertheless helps to dis
pel misconceptions about what it means to
be indigenous by presenting a much more
vibrant, diverse and complex picture of
American Indian life,” Hudson said.
The exhibition began on Jan. 15 and will
be on display until March 17.
Staff picks:
Girl Scout cookies
The Battalion editors battle it out for the
best of the cherished seasonal cookies
When I was a kid, my favorite Girl Scout cookie was definitely
Samoas (not Carmel Delights like Jenn calls them, SAMOAS). Now
my tastes have refined, however, and I'm 100 percent Team Thin
Mints. - Lindsey Gawlik
news editor
Samoas for days. Open the bag, take a bite and
bask on coconut beach's caramel shores. Every
Samoa box is a cardboard cruise ship to the
vacation of your dreams.
John Rangel
scitech editor
None. Oreos for life. - Katie Canales
life and arts editor
Caramel Delights. Yes I know that the box says
Samoas, but I was a Girl Scout for six years,
and we sold Caramel Delights. Those cookies
helped me discover how much I love coconut
and caramel, and that the mixture of those two,
along with the always delicious chocolate, is the
perfect combination. - Jennifer Reiley
assistant managing editor
For the record, I called dibs on Thin Mints for this staff picks, but
Lindsey pulled the rug out from under me. I'm not sure any other
cookie belongs in the conversation. But if I have to pick a second
favorite, I'll go with Peanut Butter Patties. - Mark Dore
editor-in-chief
Lemonades. When life gives you lemonades,
settle in and get ready to binge watch House
of Cards. - Aimee Breaux
managing editor
I ate my first "Thanks-A-Lot" when I was too young to know what
"thank you" was in any language other than English. I now know
that these chocolate and shortbread pieces of heaven convey
"thank you" in English, French, Chinese, Swahili and Spanish, and
they're all the more appealing to me, because how often do you
learn something new from a cookie? - Katy Stapp
assistant news editor