INDIANS, IRONY, IDENTITY & THE DAWN OF THE WORLD
Indians, Irony, Identity & The Dawn of the World
May 20th, 2021 - June 27th, 2021
The bold vision to juxtapose these two collections highlights the difference between works created about Indigenous Peoples, one misrepresenting, the other honoring and preserving culture. A side-by-side Exhibition from Judith Lowry’s private collection.
Indians, Irony, Identity
Indians, Irony, and Identity is an extensive collection of Indian kitsch that invites the viewer to explore and question Indigenous stereotypes and identity. A layering of textiles, children’s toys, books, posters, dream catchers, food labels, and grossly misappropriated Native American Identity and Culture for over the past one hundred years. Often times fetishizing, tokenizing, and stereotyping real Indigenous Peoples. This collection is both humorous, ironic, grotesque, and illuminating.
The Dawn Of The World
The Dawn of the World featured reproductions of watercolors created through the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (WPA). Artists Marjorie Lee and Stephen J. Quinn were non-native, yet their art intimately captures several Creation stories of California Indians.
The paintings in this exhibit were based on interviews conducted with California Indian people from the area now known as Mount Diablo. Recorded by naturalist, ethnographer and Indian advocate C. Hart Merriam beginning in the 1890’s, they were published in 1910 as The Dawn of the World. These Creation Stories form part of the vibrant oral traditions of contemporary California Indian peoples. These stories share significant similarity with the origin stories of the Nisenan people whose center of creation is ‘estom yanim, or the Marysville Buttes.
More about WPA
Work Progress Administration Federal Art Project
The Federal Arts Project was an extensive and influential visual arts project implemented by the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration during the depression. Unlike the Department of Treasury Art Programs that commissioned outstanding works of art, the WPA/FAP sought to enhance cultural development while providing much-needed work-relief. During the scope of the project more than 100 community art centers and galleries were developed across the country.
WPA/FAP hired most artists directly from the relief rolls and at its peak, nearly 5,000 artists were employed. 2,566 murals, more than 100,000 paintings, almost 18,000 sculptures, 300,000 fine prints, 22,000 plates, and numerous posters and craft objects were produced during the project years with a budget of $35,000,000.00.
California State Parks Collection “Mount Diablo” State Park
The Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project worked in conjunction with state and local governments during the depression to provide work relief. Part of the projects focus was to document American cultural and natural history. The California State Parks Collections contains more than 450 art objects that were created between 1934 and 1942.
These images were created for the Mount Diablo Museum Project by artists Marjorie Lee and Stephen J. Quinn. These paintings form part of a series of panels depicting Creation Stories that were displayed in the Summit Museum at Mount Diablo State Park. They are preserved in the California State Park Archives.
Special thanks to Judith Lowry for curating both exhibitions and her donation of the WPA reproductions to CHIRP.