From the Belly of Our Being
From the Belly of Our Being: Art by and about Native Creation
September 27, 2016 - January 28, 2017
For Indigenous people, culture is often passed to a new generation through oral traditions and the retelling of tribal narratives, including tribal creation stories. It is here that we find the stories of women who made the world. In From the Belly of Our Being, 20 contemporary artists – and Native women –explored how the feminine forces in their tribal creation stories continue to inform the ideals of feminine behavior and gendered roles.
The artworks, including sculpture, painting, jewelry, ceramics and installation, reference those creation stories, where the feminine forces are of great intellect, wisdom, skill, and generosity. They also provide an opportunity for the artists to express how these forces live with them, through them, and within the art. From the Belly of Our Being celebrated the relationship between traditions and modernity in Native culture.
Featured Artists and Guest Curator
Featured Artists: Keri Ataumbi, Julie Buffalohead, Nanibah Chacon, Anita Fields, Tammy Garcia, Shan Gosharn, Teri Greeves, Linda Lomahaftewa, Cedar Marie, Meryl McMaster, America Meredith, Molly Murphy Adams, Luanne Redeye, Cara Romero, Erin Shaw, C. Maxx Stevens, Marie Watt, Dyani White Hawk, Melanie Yazzie, and Debra Yepa-Pappan.
Guest Curator: heather ahtone, James T. Bialac Associate Curator of Native American & Non-Western Art at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma.
Related Events
09.26.2016 - Artist Lecture: C. Maxx Stevens
09.29.2016 - Curator's Lecture: heather ahtone
10.11.2016 - Guest Lecture: Sarah Deer
10.10.2016 to 10.15.2016 - Public Workshop: Artist-in-Residence Anita Fields
10.15.2016 - Reception
11.02.2016 - Lunch + Learn: Pouya Jahanshahi
11.10.2016 - Artist Roundtable
11.12.2016 - Family Day
Teri Greeves, Sunboy’s Women, 2011, glass beads, wooden beads, and Swarovski crystals on raw silk, 72 x 72 x 2 inches (each panel: 32 x 72 x 2 inches). Loan courtesy of artist.
- Press & Publications
- Resources
EDUCATOR RESOURCES | From the Belly of Our Being
- Credits
This project was supported in part by the following: an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Jeanene and Ron Hulsey, Mary Ann and Ken Fergeson, the Chickasaw Nation, the Oklahoma Arts Council, OSU/A&M Board of Regents, and the OSU Museum of Art Advocates. In addition, the OSU Museum of Art would like to extend a thank you to Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis, Minn., and the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe, NM
Jeanene & Ron Hulsey
Mary Ann & Ken Fergeson