art
Ancestral art
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Five hundred years after Christopher Columbus came to America American Indians are claiming their piece of history while declaring 1992 the year of the American Indian.
Janice Swinton
Kansan feature writer
Born in Coffeyville, Wildcat was raised by a father who taught him conformity.
ayne Wildcat did not learn the corn dance, the ghost dance or the prayers and songs of his American Indian heritage. Instead, he learned how to paint.
"My great-grandmother, who was a medicine woman, told my father that the best thing for the Indians to do was to assimilate, so he didn't sacrifice anything that was Indian," Wildcat said.
Most of what Wildcat knows about his culture,
he learned on his own from history books.
He is one of only 3,000 full-blooded Yuchi Indians left on the planet. But like many American Indians, Andrew Jackson moved his tribe off their land.
Wildcat, 37, moved to Lawrence 16 years ago to study the expressionist work of Albert Bloch
Instead, he rented studio space and began working on large, wall-sized paintings. He has been working on them ever since.
"I have to paint," he said. "I have wanted to paint since I was five."
Wildcat is self-taught.
"Since early on, I had no living mentors. So I have pretty much done my own thing." he said.
His paintings tell of social injustice and oppression.
"I have always felt that I had something to say to society. My art is sympathetic, it shows a sense of humanity, and I like to show a sense of humanity in whatever I do," he said.
Wildcat gets his sense of awareness of social issues from his parents and from growing up watching the civil rights movement.
Wildcat didn't start out painting Indians. His best paintings depicted Kor Kux Klax lynchings and the plains of Texas.
Because these paintings represent the oppression of minorities, it was natural for him to be a leader.
Wildcat incorporates a knowledge of history into his paintings. One painting reflects the museum's history.
"At Wounded Knee, 350 peaceful Indians had gathered to perform the ghost dance when they were massacred," he said.
Walking into Wildcat's studio is like finding a museum of humanity. The high ceilings and walls are covered with thought-provoking
Irene Lanier / KANSAN
Wayne Wildcat, Lawrence artist, discusses his paintings, which can be seen in the background at his studio.
Wildcat is married to Tolly Smith-Wildcat, who teaches at KU and is also his marketing manager.
paintings of historical enactments
"A lot of my work has no strict interpretation," he said. "I try to give people something to engage the mind and imagination."
Widald worked for 10 years to save money he could work full-time on his art, which he has been enjoying.
His studio has been visited by Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., New York Times art critic Roberta Smith and the directors of the Spencer Museum of Art. Wildcat has three works in the Museum of Anthropology through Oct. 25th.
Irene Lanier/KANSAN
Lawrence Indian Arts Show
The KU Museum of Anthropology, Haskell Indian Junior College, and the Lawrence Arts Center are sponsoring the fourth annual Lawrence Indian Arts Show. The exhibitions, workshops and lectures run through Oct. 25.
A Juried Competition
KU Museum of Anthropology
Rockville, MD 21236
Mon. to Sat. 9 a.m.; 5 p.m.; Sun. 1-1 p.m.
Admission: Adults $3.00; Students $1.00.
The Fourth Annual Indian Arts Show:
By Janice Swinton Kansan feature writer
An Exhibit of American Indian Flutes
Navajo Weaving Workshop
Kalley Musial, Navajo weaver
KU Museum of Anthropology
Oct. 15.18
Workshop participation by reservation; a fee will be charged.
Haskell Indian Junior College, Academic Support Center
Runs through Oct. 25
Mon, to Thu. 8 a.m.,10 p.m.; Fri, 8 a.m.,5 p.m.
Sun, 10 a.p.m.
The library free
Recent Paintings by Kickapoo Artist
Runs through Oct. 25
Tue to: 8-30 a.m. 5 p.m.; Sun, 12-30 p.m.
Tu to: 8-30 a.m. 5 p.m.; Sun, 12-30 p.m.
An Exhibit of Navajo Textiles
Spencer Museum of Ar Runs through Oct. 25
"You can't just talk for no reas because words are sacred," she said. Saturday at the Indian Art Market at the Navajo Museum, she talked about her Navajo traditions and art.
n the Navajo tradition, Maggie Necefer was taught that when people talk, they must have a purpose.
"The Navajo people were a nomadic tribe who often raided and kidnapped people from New Mexico and the surrounding area. That's one way they learned their art," she said. "Now, the Navajo are a peaceful tribe that relies a lot on their art and traditions."
Recent Paintings by Kickapoo Artist Roger McKinney
Roger McKinney, WI. Runs through Oct. 25.
On tm, Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Tue, 10 a.m.
Public Lecture: "The American Indian in
Noefer has been a silversmith for the last 22 years. She and her brothers and sisters learned silversmithing from their father when they were young, but the only one who still practices the native art.
[Name of Art Institution]
Sun... 2 p.m.
Former curator, Buffalo Bill Historic Center, Cody, Wyo.
Co-curator of "Art of the American Indian Frontier"
at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Irene Lanier/ KANSAN
Source: Stephen Mippeo, painting; Lawrence Indian Art Show
Sean M. Tevis / KANGAM
She even used silversmithing to help finance her college education.
Sean M. Tevis / KANSAN
"On the weekends, I would take the bus to Santa Fe and sell my jewelry on the plaza," she said.
Originally from Red Valley, Ariz., Neefer moved to Lawrence six years ago with her husband. She is the placement director at Haskell Indian Junior College. Neefer earned her bachelor's degree in education and her master's degree in counseling from New Mexico Highland University.
"When I first came to Lawrence, I had a hard time fitting in," she said. "I felt no freedom to be who I am. In the southwest, different cultures live together and accept each other; here, when I go out to a restaurant, I can't enjoy myself because people stare at me."
Neefer gained strength from working with the community, but she said many students at the university were reluctant to learn.
"A lot of students come from reservations where there are no boundaries such as sidewalks and buildings. Sometimes their nearest neighbor is three miles away. To them, Lawrence is a big city and many find it hard to adjust," she said.
Necefer's main source of strength is in the American Indian spiritual beliefs.
"In our tradition, we don't go to church on any certain day of the week because we don't separate our spiritual lives," she said. "The prayers we learn we have learned over the years keep me in balance."
Necever still speaks the language and participates in the traditional ceremonies of the Navajo.
Maggie Necefe, Lawrence resident and Nava Jo Indian, talks about her jewelry, which is displayed at the Indian Art Market at Haskell Indian College.
"Native Americans are a proud people," she said. "This keeps us strong because if we lose our traditional ways, we lose everything, and would be just like everyone else, assimilated."
Neefer said this year had been declared the year of the American Indian and it was also the year commemorating Christopher Columbus. She believes every year should be the year of the American Indian because they were here before anyone else, she said.
To Beefer, this recognition is long overdue.
"This year I saw signs saying 'Welcome Back Haskell'; this is the first time I have seen this in Lawrence," she said.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1992 PAGE 5
KU Campus
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
Exhibitions
Spencer Museum of Art
864-4714
Hours: Closed Monday; 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday; noon - 5 p.m. Sunday.
Baldwin Lee Photographs through Sept. 27.
Contemporary Japanese Prints and Ceramics through Sept. 25.
"Seeking the Floating World: The Japanese Spirit and Turn of the Century French Art" through Oct. 4.
Keith Haring Prints, Williams Burroughs Text through Oct. 11.
An Exhibit of American Indian Flutes through Oct. 25
An Exhibit of Navajo Textiles through Oct. 25.
KU Museum of Natural History 864-4540
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday; 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Saturday; closed Sunday
"Venus Unvelled: Images from the Magellan Mission," through Sept. 24.
Dinosaur Film Festival, Saturday Sept. 19
Calendar continues. Page 6.