Yes! There is Art to Share

When you go to two very different museums in the same city, it takes a while to digest what you've seen. And for me, time to decide how to share so many beautiful things in a blog.  So I think I'll give about 5 photos each day. That way it won't overwhelm me, or you, hopefully.

The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a private entity, rather than one of the large ones that are supported by various organizations. It does have a location on Museum Hill, where a very big Indian Museum is also...as well as the Folk Art Museum. And then there are a couple of Indian Museums right downtown in Santa Fe also.  But I chose this one to visit. It describes itself in the brochure a the oldest independent, non-profit museum in New Mexico.

The focus exhibit was  LIT: The Work of Rose B. Simpson,
which is up only till next Sunday, Oct 6. The title above should take you to the Wheelwright home page.

The blurb says:

LIT: The Work of Rose B. Simpson will feature new and retrospective work including life-size clay and mixed-media sculptures, clay faces, and monumental figures. The daughter of renowned sculptor Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara Pueblo) and metal artist Patrick Simpson, Simpson uses the traditional medium of clay, combined with welded steel and leather. Textured clay surfaces and androgynous subjects appear throughout Simpson’s work. A range of sculptural styles and sizes reflect the trajectory of Simpson’s training from her early years at the Institute of American Indian Arts to her graduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Before I arrived, I watched the video that this young Native American artist made a few years ago, and I wanted to see more of her work.  Here is the video on YouTube.

The museum itself is made in the shape of a hogan, with logs for the ceiling, and Rainbow Woman is painted around the circumference where roof meets walls, watching everything that happens below. Her head is on one side, her body continues all the way around, and her feet are close to her head. You can see her head and arms in the lower right hand corner of the above photo.