JBU Presents "Return from Exile" Exhibit
SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK. (Aug. 24, 2016) –John Brown University presents “Return from Exile: Contemporary Southeastern Indian Art,” a national traveling exhibition that features today’s top contemporary Native American artists. The exhibit opens with a reception including artists and curators on Thursday, Sept. 1, 6-7:30 p.m.
“JBU’s art gallery is excited to open its exhibition season with a powerful and significantly relevant exhibit,” Charles Peer, gallery director, said. “This collection of artwork is both beautiful and moving.”
All 32 artists are from peoples whose original homelands are in the American Southeast — tribes whose forced removal is also known as the “Trail of Tears.” The exhibition is about responding to that history with themes of removal, return and resilience.
Curated by University of Georgia professor Dr. Jace Weaver, independent curator and artist Tony A. Tiger, and JBU art faculty and artist Bobby C. Martin, “Return from Exile” features 44 works in a wide variety of styles and mediums.
“I think there is a palpable, undeniable power to this exhibition, which I believe occurs in large part because the artists invested so much of themselves into the themes of the show,” Martin said. “Their spiritual and emotional investment is plain to see, and it makes for a moving experience, even for viewers uninitiated into the histories involved. Powerful stories are being told for those who take the time to listen.”
“Return from Exile” will be on display at JBU in both the main gallery in Windgate Visual Arts West and in student gallery in Windgate Visual Art East from Sept. 1-23. In coordination with the exhibition, Crystal Bridges Museum is hosting a Gallery Conversation on Sept. 17 from 1-2 p.m. in Bentonville, featuring “Return from Exile” curators and artists responding to works in the museum’s collection. For more information, visit http://crystalbridges.org/calendar/gallery-conversation-return-from-exile/.
John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Ranked No. 2 among Southern regional colleges by U.S. News, JBU enrolls more than 2,700 students from 42 states and 39 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, degree completion and concurrent education programs. JBU offers more than 39 majors, with top programs including business administration, graphic design, engineering, construction management, counseling, teacher education and nursing.
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