Post by Moon Seeker on Jul 29, 2009 13:43:03 GMT -5
Native American Arts Festival set for September 26 at Stamford Museum & Nature Center
By Stamford Museum & Nature Center
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center will cap its four-month long presentation of Native American history and cultures with a festival of the arts, to be held on Museum grounds on September 26, from 11 am to 3 pm.
The festival, being held in conjunction with SM&NC’s current exhibitions, Baseball’s League of Nations: A Salute to Native American Baseball Players and Dynamic Traditions: Form and Function in Native American Art, will feature performances from The Allegany River Dancers and a variety of Native American artists. Visitors will have the opportunity to admire and purchase Museum-quality Native American artworks, as several prominent Native American artists will display their work on the Museum’s meadow.
The featured performers for the day will be The Allegany River Dancers, led by Bill Crouse. This Seneca group showcases the traditional songs and dances of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), sharing with the public details about their costumes, language, and music. Among others, The Allegany River Dancers will perform the Iroquois Smoke Dance and the Hoop Dance. In the latter, the dancer uses hoops to form designs and shapes representing animals and other themes from nature. The group has been thrilling audiences at colleges, museums, powwows, and festivals since the mid 1980’s. They have traveled all over the United States and Canada as well as overseas.
An impressive group of prominent Native American artists will also be at the festival, showcasing a variety of different mediums. Among them will be Ronnie-Lee Goeman (Guynehgwenta), Onondaga, a fiber artist whose “basket sculptures” have won numerous awards and are avidly sought after by museums and collectors. Ms. Goeman collaborates with Stonehorse Goeman to create unique pieces rooted in traditional basketry but thoroughly contemporary.
Also present will be Natasha Smoke Santiago, Mohawk, showcasing her paintings, as well as Haudenosaunee pottery, sculpture, and pipes; Vicky Schenandoah, Oneida, maker of quahog shell jewelry, raised beadwork and other traditional arts and crafts; Carrie Hill, Mohawk, maker of black ash and sweetgrass basketry; and Peter B, Jones, Onondaga, renowned for his pottery and ceramic sculptures.
Young visitors will be able to take part in traditional Native American games and craft activities. Refreshments inspired in Native American traditions will be available for purchase. Admission is: Members: Adults, $5, children 3 and above, $2 / Non Members: Adults, $10, children 3 and above $5; all children under 3, free. The festival is supported by media sponsor 96.7 The Coast.
Baseball’s League of Nations
The exhibition presents images and biographical sketches of many players, and focuses on the Native American boarding school experience; baseball in Native communities; Native American barnstorming teams; Native players in the Major and Minor leagues; Native American Women players; and Native American stereotyping in sports. Also included are objects loaned by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; the Seneca - Iroquois National Museum; the Tonawanda Reservation Historical Society; and numerous individuals and the families of former players.
Baseball’s League of Nations is made possible, in part, by The Connecticut Humanities Council.
Dynamic Traditions
Americans have collected Native American objects since they first came into contact with the nation’s first inhabitants. An important factor was the attraction of owning exotic things, seen as curiosities. Native Americans also produced objects that non-natives found useful, such as baskets, boxes and bowls. Towards the end of the 19th century, there was a more urgent collecting thrust. Native Americans were seen as destined to being fully absorbed by the dominant non-Native culture, if not to complete physical extinction. Not only individuals, but cultural organizations, including universities and Museums, hastened to collect “before it was too late.”
This Manifest-Destiny-inspired scenario was, of course, flawed. Although many Native American nations dwindled and some have indeed disappeared, many endured, survived as distinct peoples, and are thriving. Today, there are over four million people of Native American ancestry in the United States and while collecting is no longer a matter of “salvaging,” interest in the material culture of the First Americans is at an all time high.
Getting there
Stamford Museum & Nature Center is located at 39 Scofieldtown Road, Stamford, CT (3/4 mile North of Merritt Parkway Exit 35.) For more information call 203.322.1646 or visit www.stamfordmuseum.org.
Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s Mission
Stamford Museum & Nature Center is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of art, the natural and agricultural sciences, and history. The Museum is a vital cultural and educational resource for the community, and a focal point for family activity and interaction, seeking to inspire creativity, foster self-discovery, and nurture an appreciation for lifelong learning through exhibitions, educational programs, and special events that enhance the visitor’s experience of our unique site.
© Copyright by ConnecticutPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of ConnecticutPlus.com, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar.
www.museumnews.net/story.asp?ID=475065&Title=Native%20American%20Arts%20Festival%20set%20for%20September%2026%20at%20Stamford%20...
By Stamford Museum & Nature Center
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center will cap its four-month long presentation of Native American history and cultures with a festival of the arts, to be held on Museum grounds on September 26, from 11 am to 3 pm.
The festival, being held in conjunction with SM&NC’s current exhibitions, Baseball’s League of Nations: A Salute to Native American Baseball Players and Dynamic Traditions: Form and Function in Native American Art, will feature performances from The Allegany River Dancers and a variety of Native American artists. Visitors will have the opportunity to admire and purchase Museum-quality Native American artworks, as several prominent Native American artists will display their work on the Museum’s meadow.
The featured performers for the day will be The Allegany River Dancers, led by Bill Crouse. This Seneca group showcases the traditional songs and dances of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), sharing with the public details about their costumes, language, and music. Among others, The Allegany River Dancers will perform the Iroquois Smoke Dance and the Hoop Dance. In the latter, the dancer uses hoops to form designs and shapes representing animals and other themes from nature. The group has been thrilling audiences at colleges, museums, powwows, and festivals since the mid 1980’s. They have traveled all over the United States and Canada as well as overseas.
An impressive group of prominent Native American artists will also be at the festival, showcasing a variety of different mediums. Among them will be Ronnie-Lee Goeman (Guynehgwenta), Onondaga, a fiber artist whose “basket sculptures” have won numerous awards and are avidly sought after by museums and collectors. Ms. Goeman collaborates with Stonehorse Goeman to create unique pieces rooted in traditional basketry but thoroughly contemporary.
Also present will be Natasha Smoke Santiago, Mohawk, showcasing her paintings, as well as Haudenosaunee pottery, sculpture, and pipes; Vicky Schenandoah, Oneida, maker of quahog shell jewelry, raised beadwork and other traditional arts and crafts; Carrie Hill, Mohawk, maker of black ash and sweetgrass basketry; and Peter B, Jones, Onondaga, renowned for his pottery and ceramic sculptures.
Young visitors will be able to take part in traditional Native American games and craft activities. Refreshments inspired in Native American traditions will be available for purchase. Admission is: Members: Adults, $5, children 3 and above, $2 / Non Members: Adults, $10, children 3 and above $5; all children under 3, free. The festival is supported by media sponsor 96.7 The Coast.
Baseball’s League of Nations
The exhibition presents images and biographical sketches of many players, and focuses on the Native American boarding school experience; baseball in Native communities; Native American barnstorming teams; Native players in the Major and Minor leagues; Native American Women players; and Native American stereotyping in sports. Also included are objects loaned by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; the Seneca - Iroquois National Museum; the Tonawanda Reservation Historical Society; and numerous individuals and the families of former players.
Baseball’s League of Nations is made possible, in part, by The Connecticut Humanities Council.
Dynamic Traditions
Americans have collected Native American objects since they first came into contact with the nation’s first inhabitants. An important factor was the attraction of owning exotic things, seen as curiosities. Native Americans also produced objects that non-natives found useful, such as baskets, boxes and bowls. Towards the end of the 19th century, there was a more urgent collecting thrust. Native Americans were seen as destined to being fully absorbed by the dominant non-Native culture, if not to complete physical extinction. Not only individuals, but cultural organizations, including universities and Museums, hastened to collect “before it was too late.”
This Manifest-Destiny-inspired scenario was, of course, flawed. Although many Native American nations dwindled and some have indeed disappeared, many endured, survived as distinct peoples, and are thriving. Today, there are over four million people of Native American ancestry in the United States and while collecting is no longer a matter of “salvaging,” interest in the material culture of the First Americans is at an all time high.
Getting there
Stamford Museum & Nature Center is located at 39 Scofieldtown Road, Stamford, CT (3/4 mile North of Merritt Parkway Exit 35.) For more information call 203.322.1646 or visit www.stamfordmuseum.org.
Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s Mission
Stamford Museum & Nature Center is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of art, the natural and agricultural sciences, and history. The Museum is a vital cultural and educational resource for the community, and a focal point for family activity and interaction, seeking to inspire creativity, foster self-discovery, and nurture an appreciation for lifelong learning through exhibitions, educational programs, and special events that enhance the visitor’s experience of our unique site.
© Copyright by ConnecticutPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of ConnecticutPlus.com, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar.
www.museumnews.net/story.asp?ID=475065&Title=Native%20American%20Arts%20Festival%20set%20for%20September%2026%20at%20Stamford%20...