The "Sisters of the Great Lakes"/
Nokomis Collection
The "Sisters of the Great Lakes"/Nokomis Collection
grew out of the 1994 "Transcending Boundaries" project, a year-long series
of professional development workshops, coordinated by the Nokomis American
Indian Cultural Learning Center of Okemos, Michigan, for twenty American
Indian women artists living in the Great Lakes region. Each project participant
selected a piece for the collection they felt best represented their work
and the collection includes portraits, biographies of artists, and color
photographs of their baskets, pottery, beadwork, dolls, stained glass,
sculptures, and drawings.
The accompanying exhibition and
publication explored the ways in which American Indians, specifically
women living in the Great Lakes region, visually address the complexities
of being Indian in a modern world. It examines the multiple ways in which
individuals express their identity as women, as artists, as American Indians,
and as members of specific native communities. The collection counters
the often stereotypical views of American Indian art, in general, and
Great Lakes Indian art, in particular. The project was funded by a grant
from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Collectors/Fieldworkers/Donors:
Nokomis American Indian Cultural Learning Center.
Exhibitions:
"Gatherings: Great Lakes Native Basket and Box Makers," Nokomis Learning
Center, Okemos, Michigan, February - August 1999.
"Sisters of the Great Lakes: Art
of American Indian Women," Nokomis Learning Center, Okemos, Michigan,
September, 1995 - December, 1996; Hall of Ideas, Midland Center for the
Arts, Midland, Michigan, January, 1997 - March, 1997; The Field Museum,
Chicago, Illinois, December 20, 1997 - July 5, 1998; Forest County Potawatomi
Cultural Center & Museum, Crandon, Wisconsin, September - December, 2000;
Fort Miami Heritage Society, St. Joseph, Michigan, May - September, 2002.
Publications:
Marsha MacDowell and Janice Reed, eds. Sisters
of the Great Lakes: Art of American Indian Women.
East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum in collaboration
with the Nokomis Learning Center, 1995.
--compiled by Marsha MacDowell, 2004.
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