A showcase of Native American art, with work by local artists, will be on display at the Oats Park Art Center until Nov. 8; the collection features a variety of artwork and cultural items from artists young and old, with most hailing from the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe. The Churchill Arts Council hosted a gallery reception and banquet at the art center on Oct. 17 to celebrate the artists and the special collection.
This serendipitous showing began as a collaboration between the Stillwater Tribal Senior Center’s art class and the Oats Park Art Center. The senior center needed gallery space for an art show, and it so just happened the art center’s main galleries were vacant for a few weeks. And what began as simply an invitation for the elders to share a few paintings grew into a community gathering as more and more tribal members contributed their creations to the collection.
After arriving as director of the Stillwater Tribal Senior Center, Juliana Dixon used a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to fund a structured art class. She purchased supplies and partnered with art instructor Adrian Tom who guided the seniors through lessons on several painting mediums – water colors, pastels, oil paints – and then helped to frame the finished pieces. Although grant funding included rental of a facility for the art show, the Churchill Arts Council donated use of the Oats Park Art Center to the tribe. Tom has been a regular volunteer at the senior center, and he even entered the seniors’ artwork in the recent Reno Tahoe International Art Show in September.
Earlier in the week, as Robyn Jordan, executive director of Churchill Arts Council, and her crew began mounting paintings to gallery walls, more unexpected artwork kept arriving. The paintings from the elders ranged from Native American-themed works to more whimsical scenes like two men stumbling out of a Comstock-era saloon.
Jordan and her team found display tables to hold works like a beaded hat, decorated drums, a handmade regalia dress, baskets, beaded medallions, a decorated jaw bone, and several tule duck decoys ranging in size from a Matchbox car to a park bench. These community-submitted pieces came from seasoned elders, like Adam Fortunate Eagle, to young people like Colton Tohannie and Leona Mineard who were showing their pieces for the first time.
A special highlight of the showcase are the many pieces from Shannon Christy Hooper, a member of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe who recently completed her master’s degree in Fine Art from the Institute of American Indian Art, where she also earned her undergraduate degrees.
Her large winnowing baskets – woven from modern materials and brightly decorated – anchored a corner of the Wiegand Gallery, while her realistic pencil drawings of her family gazed across the Kirkland gallery at her largest piece: a long evening gown in the hue of the wild desert rose, adorned with a bold blue and white beaded belt, and topped with an intricately beaded collar of blue, white and 24-karat gold designs. In both the subject matter and execution, Hooper’s pieces are a blend of traditional and contemporary Native American art.
Dixon put in many hours bringing the event to life, but she said it was worth it after seeing the seniors’ reactions.
“It was an awesome turnout, everybody appreciated it,” she said. “The event brought out a lot of elders who don’t usually join us, and they all had a great time talking and visiting.” After the show, artists and families gathered for a catered family-style dinner at a long table in the hallway where the conversations flowed.
Jordan said the event brought out about 90 people, a majority of whom had never visited the art center before. She said she was inspired by the sense of community the exhibit cultivated. The Celebration for Native American Arts and Culture will be at the Oats Park Art Center until Nov. 8. The art center is open Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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