NEWS RELEASE Oct. 16, 2020

FRED JONES JR. MUSEUM OF ART THE UNIVERSITY OF - NORMAN CONTACT: KAYLEE KAIN, Director of Communication, (405) 325-3178, [email protected] FAX: (405) 325-7696 www.ou.edu/fjjma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WITH IMAGE

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Exhibition Features Six

NORMAN, OKLA. – A first-of-its-kind exhibition is now on display at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art exclusively featuring the artists known as the : (1906-1954), James Auchiah (1906-1974), (1901-1969), (1898-1974), Lois Smoky (1907-1981), and (1904-1937). Kiowa Agency: Stories of the Six explores the ways in which these artists were agents of cultural preservation throughout their careers.

Between 1927 and 1929 six Kiowa artists completed artistic residencies at the . Previous scholarship suggests Oscar B. Jacobson, director of the school of art at OU, discovered the artists, although they had already established careers before coming to the university. It is this narrative Kiowa Agency seeks to correct through emphasizing each artist’s individuality and career.

The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Art History program of the School of Visual Arts and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The exhibition and accompanying catalog are funded by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New York City. The show was organized by three student-curators, Mariah Ashbacher, Julia Harth and Olivia von Gries, who were enrolled in a spring 2020 seminar on Native American Art and Museum Studies led by Dr. W. Jackson Rushing III.

While curating the show, the graduate students selected examples of artwork by the Kiowa Six from the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art's collections as well as from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum's Arthur and Shifra Silberman Native American Art Collection.

“Before quarantine began,” says von Gries, “we were lucky enough to have visited both collections and examined the artwork up-close and in-person. It was during our visit to the Cowboy that we saw the 'Kiowa Agency' poster by Stephen Mopope, which inspired both the title and entrance graphic for the exhibit.”

An exhibition catalog published in conjunction with the show is also available at the museum free of charge. Included in the catalog are biographies written by the curators, a forward by Dr. W. Jackson Rushing III, an introduction by Warren Queton and essays by Daniel Swan and Eric Singleton.

A virtual gallery talk with the student curators is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17. The exhibition will be on display through Jan. 17, 2021. More information about this exhibition and related programing is available on the museum’s website at www.ou.edu/fjjma.

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus. Admission to the museum is complimentary to all visitors, thanks to the generosity of the OU Office of the President. The museum is closed on Mondays. Information and accommodations are available by calling (405) 325-4938 or visiting www.ou.edu/fjjma.

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IMAGE CREDIT

A new exhibition at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art examines the lives and works of the Kiowa Six: Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke. The exhibition demonstrates how both before and after their short residencies at OU, members of the Kiowa Six acted as strong agents of cultural preservation and transmission while navigating pressures of assimilation from the federal Kiowa Agency and external expectations for their artistic practices. Kiowa Agency is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation and was curated by graduate students Mariah Ashbacher, Julia Harth and Olivia von Gries.

Stephen Mopope (Qued Koi) (U.S., Kiowa, 1898-1974) Mother and Child Watercolor on paper Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, Norman; The James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection, 2010

Jack Hokeah (U.S., Kiowa, 1901-1969) Mère Kiowa et son Enfant (Kiowa Mother and her Child) (from Indians of North America Portfolio) Screenprint Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, Norman; Gift of The Charles H. and Miriam S. Hogan Collection, 2004