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South Dakota Art Museum Newsletters and Publications

Winter 1994

South Dakota Art Museum News, Winter 1994

South Dakota Art Museum

Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/sdam_news s Ou th D a k Ota 111113111 �1i1111574 �)!ijiijl/ 5024111i�ffl 8l�1 21i511rI88ll 111111 useum News SPECIAL Volume 24, Number 1, Winter 1994 EXHIBITIONS

A Century of Navajo Weaving: Selections from the Susan Morris Dejong Collection February2 -2 7, 1994 Weaving by Navajo women, a craft inextri­ Navajo rug, 1910, cably linked with Navajo culture in the 46"x54", from the Susan Morris Southwestern United States, is now univer­ Dejong collection sally recognized as an important art form of the Americas. Below: Frank Fools This exhibition traces the continuous Crow, Kyle, South Dakota, Sioux evolutiop .of Navajo weaving from 1870 to Medicine the present. It emphasizes the richness and Man/Shaman, by diversity of expression within the Navajo Robert Alan weaving tradition and the creativity of the Clayton "Quiet Pride" Navajo in adapting materials and design influences fromPueblo, Hispanic and Anglo-American sources. A Century of Navajo Weaving will fea- ture 29 wearing blankets, serapes, rugs, tapes­ "Who ,ar�.. tb tries and saddle blankets from DeJong's exten­ zens of solitude� sive collection. Dejong, an instructor in flute at is only capriciou Macalester College, the College of St. Catherine Cowboy, Carver. and Hamline University as well as a visiting per­ Doctor. Weaver. formerwith the Minnesota Orchestra, has been Smithy. Sheepshe collecting works by Navajo weavers for more Their lives are than twentyyears. stretched over a Highlights of the exhibition include 19th cen­ events as comm tury Chiefs wearing blankets and serapes, bril­ Births and fields to pla liantly colored "eye dazzlers", Yei motif pictorials pet pig, a new tru and historical and contemporary rugs represent­ their lives are full ing named regional styles such as "Two Grey any standard but Hills", "Ganado" and "Crystal". they've done unu A Centuryof Navajo Weaving was orga­ heroic, things. nized by Cherie Doyle Riesenberg at Macalester It pours from Galleries and curated by guest curator Martha The sheer dignity. Taylor, A color catalog accompanies the exhibi­ of mind, the i!�dc tion. openness to ;�tr self-reliance ands that is the core of Quiet Pride, Ageless Wisdom beyond cable:TV, of theA merican West lines and sometim 6-27 ordinary. Quiet Pride is about these people. It's power lines. A March reveals the more Photographer Robert Alan Clayton explains that a glimpse of rural, western Americana, eye to eye, and a way of honoring age, its beauty, and of antelope fryin his exhibition, Quiet Pride, " ... is a product of skillet. Air hea more than three years and over 40,000 miles the living of those dreams." smoke of travelled down the back roads and byways of Clayton says that each of the 45 selenium­ ticks. A fl everystate in the West, including Alaska, pho­ toned black-and-white prints " .. .is accompanied There are few r tographing and documenting the lives of older by a brief narrative which is a kernel of the indi­ shines. And in Americans. The remarkable faces I found along vidual's life, values and world view." A book by night there are a Clayton, also entitled Quiet Pride, Ageless know this forsur the way range from 5 7 to 114 years of age." 11 Wisdom of the American West, will be available ed in their eyes. "By their own account these folks have led Jeanne Hathaway, common lives. But in the very simplicity of their for purchase in the Museum Gift Shop. The book contains the photographs in the exhibition. excerpted from "d will to live free, in the purposefulness Pride, Agel earnsand in the risks they took which American. ned to them at all risky, lies the extra- SOUTH DAKOTA ARTIST: Robert Penn

In the catalog for the exhibition "Vision of Hope" which was organized under the aus­ objects, Indians in urban settings, landscapes, Arts. It is time to recognize and celebrate this images which reference Native American leg­ pices orthe Akta Lakota Museum in 1990, excellent artist and to begin a serious, critical ends and beliefs are all rendered in contempo­ Robert Penn considers his role as a contempo­ assessment of his accomplishments and his rary style and media. "The important thing is 3 rary Native American artist: place in American Art." 11As a Native American living in modern not to draw limits for myself, but to continue Robert Penn's success as an artist has exploring new media and styles," he says. "If society J have a dual role as artist and inter­ come after years of hardship, frustration and a brush stroke doesn't give me the effect I'm preter, and have attempted with my paintings despair. He was born into a large family in seeking, I may go into the yard for a mis­ to use tontemporary forms to express cultural Omaha, Nebraska in 1947, to parents who shapen twig. Art is what forces me to were registered tribal members-his father themes. As an artist, it is my goal to expand 2 and explore new ways of expressing the duali­ grow ... my desire is just so strong." Omaha, his mother Rosebud Sioux. Due to tyof my world According to John Day, curator of the his mother's illness and other unfortunate cir­ throughJ:ny art, exhibition, cumstances, Penn's family was split up by translating into "Robert Penn Nebraska's state court system when he was modern terms Retrospective:" eight. Robert and his younger brother, Dana, the traditional "Over the past were sent to St. Augustine Boarding School on arts of my cu 1- twenty-five the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska. ture using mod­ years, Robert Although he had the opportunity to Penn has attend a number of high schools after graduat­ ern methods and materials . ).,-L. established ing from St. Augustine, Penn requested to be 1 himself as a sent to St. Francis Boarding School on the and propagatjng leading Rosebud Reservation because his mother was cultural arts by making them American a member of the tribe and had gone to school Indian artist, there. While art was not taught at St. Francis less separate not only in our and he was not encouraged to pursue his and mysterious region but interest in it, it was through the principal at St. to the non­ nationally. His Francis that he learned of Oscar Howe's sum­ Indian audi- ence.11 "... work is includ­ mer workshops at the University of South 11 ed in an Dakota for young Native American artists. He Abstraction impressive applied and was awarded a scholarship for the of symbots and number of summer of 1966. themes can re- public collec­ After successfully completing the work­ interpret and "Urban Indian Series No.4" 1973, by Robert Penn. Collection of the South shop, Penn entered the University of South integratethe Dakota Art Museum tions including Dakota in the fall of 1966 and became a work­ modern world those of the as seenfrom an Indian viewpoint without Smithsonian Institution and the Minneapolis study assistant for Howe. Lawrence Piersol, a collector of Penn's work, says, " ... I was in strict adherence to traditional artforms, and Institute of Arts. He has over a dozen solo exhibitions to his credit and his work has won Oscar Howe's studio at the University. While can transcend both worlds to become con­ prizes at the Colorado Indian Market and the Howe worked, he talked about Bob as a stu­ temporary modern art as well as a cultural Northern Plains Tribal Arts Exhibition. An dent. Howe volunteered that Bob was the statement. This is what I hope to accomplish experienced muralist, he has completed four most talented student he ever had. He said through my painting."1 commissions and has been recently awarded a Bob's sense of aesthetics was always right in Penn's paintings are vibrant, incredibly major mural commission for the Denver whatever he did."4 Penn worked with Howe alive expressions of self-a self which stands International Airport. In 1992, Robert Penn for five years "learning techniques, skills and betweefl two cultures and serves as guide and received the South Dakota Governor's Award 5 interpreter. Traditional Native American the importance of philosophical context". for Distinction in Creative Achievement in the For a sixteen-year period after his gradua- tion from USD, Penn experienced a series of RECENT ACQUISITIONS personal and professional upheavals. He was chairman of the Art Department at Sinte The objects listed here have recently been given to the South Dakota Art Museum. It is through he enerosity f donors like these that our collection continues to grow and become Gleska College, taught at several universities, � _ � � worked as a medical illustrator and as a a more s1grnf1cant repository for our cultural heritage. graphic designer. In 1986, with his health Four paintings �ave been received f�om the Louise (Mrs. E. C) Rhodes estate through her beginning to fail, Penn decided to make art daughter,_ Mary_ Louise Rhodes (Mrs. Patrick) Gorman. Three of the paintings are by Arthur full-time. Am1otte: "Girl at Play", 1967; "Blanket Girl No. 4", 1967, and; "In Meditation of the Universe"' In 1988, accompanied by his third wife, 1966. The fourth painting, a blonde young girl, is by Frances Cranmer Greenman of the former Altadena De la Cruz, he returned Minneapolis. Her parents, the Cranmers, were important early pioneers in Aberdeen. The girl to Vermillion certain of who he was and what in the painting is said to be a niece of he wanted to do. Although his work has the Greenmans who is not from South been interrupted at times by illness and physi­ Dakota. cal infirmities, Penn has regularly exhibited his The family of Alice Berry has paintings and received commissions since donated eight works to the permanent 1989. Alta, an artist and former curator for collection and a number of works for an art gallery, acts as Penn's agent, marketing the study collection in her memory. his work, protecting his rights in the market­ Included are three acrylic paintings by place and freeing him to work on his paint­ Berry and works by artists Signe Stuart, ings. Steven Mayes, Arthur Cadieux, Gerald His friend Roger Broer, another South Kruse and Michael Warrick. Dakota Native American artist, says of Penn, "Bob does not rely on tricks-he knows his tools. He is now one of the most disciplined men I know. He is honest; he paints his time and his understanding of those private things Right: "In Meditation of the of which he is composed. He is now what Universe", 1966 by should be recognized and honored as a Arthur Amiotte Lakota artist-as a Lakota." 6 Below right: Untitled, n.d., Alice Berry Footnotes 1 Vision of Hope: A Traveling Sioux Art Show in Below left: Untitled, n.d., Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Frances Cranmer Greenman Wounded Knee Massacre; 1990; organized under the Photos by Francine Marcel auspices of Akta Lakota Museum, St. Joseph's Indian School, Chamberlain, South Dakota; p.22. 2 "Bob Penn: Painter" by Rick Ceyerman in "South Dakota Magazine"; July/August 1991; p.23 3 From the catalog for the exhibi­ tion Robert Penn: Retrospective; 1993; organized by the University Art Galleries, University of South Dakota, Vermillion; p.3 4 ibid p.15 5 ibid p.9 6 ibid p.14

This is the first in a series of profiles of contemporary South Dakota artists. GOVERNOR'S AWARDS MEMBER'S PREVIEW attended and were willing to discuss their works with people who were interested. IN THE ARTS EXHIBITION After the reception, the artists dined at On February 14th, the Governor's Awards in The Members Preview for the South Dakota Caspers where they had an opportunity to the Arts will be presented during a banquet at Art Faculty exhibition was held on enjoy the Ramkota RiverCentre in Pierre attended November 6, from 5-7p.m. The the com­ by government officials and arts patrons. The exhibition contained work in all pany of Awards are sponsored biennially by South media by artists who teach at col­ other Dakotans for the Arts and the South Dakota leges and universities throughout creative Arts Council to recognize the State's finest the state. Many of the artists who types. artists and arts supporters. Awards are given were represented in the exhibition for Distinction in Creative Achievement; Outstanding Support of the Arts by an Individual; Outstanding Support of the Arts by a Corporation and Outstanding Leadership in Arts Education. This year we will have a display in the lobby of the Ramkota during the social hour Left: Artist Paul Freeman and Allan from 5 to 6 p.m. entitled "Dakota Outdoors: Fisher Discus "The Chase" by Fisher NOTE: Selections from the South Dakota Art at the Members preview for "South A portion of the museum's Dakota Art Faculty " Museum Collection". The banquet begins at general operating funds for 6 p.m. and will be followed by a reception Above: Norman Gambill, Head of SDSU Visual Arts Department with this fiscal year has been pro­ with dancing. Jay Olson and other artists at vided through a $22,263 For tickets or further information, con­ Caspers after the Members grant from the Institute of tact Janet Brown, Executive Director, South Preview. Museum Services, a Federal Dakotans for the Arts (605} 578-1783. agency that offers general operating support to the nation's museums.

A GREAT FACE IN A

In 1954, during his Freshman y were always in the Fine Arts­ Directing isn't as much fun." University of South Dakota, Jae nd and chorus. After graduat- Stengel became president of the family required to write a paper for an 1958, Jack served two years business, Dakota Granite Company, in 1961. on "Why the new art museum s playing clarinet. While in "We are a wholesale concern supplying monu­ at USO". "It seems," relates Army, he started a little ments to retail granite shops over the nation Stengel, "that the South Dakota ing group, "Mainly, to break since 1925. We have recently begun to pro­ Federation of Women's Clubs boredom. It proved to be a duce granite floor tiles and building stone." was having a great debate as to take because once the word Jack complains good-naturedly that "The hours where the art center should be out, we sang at a lot of offi­ spent at the office keep interrupting my arts built. Had I been a better writer bridge clubs, etc." activities!" in 1954, perhaps the South Since moving back to Reviewing his involvement with the Dakota Art Museum would be ank in 1961, Jack has been South Dakota Art Museum, Stengel says somewhere else!" lved in a variety of communi­ "Accreditation by the American Association of Jack Stengel is the most rts activities. He became Museums came early in our efforts and the recent past President of the ir director at the United Museum has grown in reputation quite steadily Museum's Board of Trustees an thodist Church soon after his ever since. Our operating endowment contin­ has served two terms in that val. "Then," says Stengel, "I ues to grow and we have seen a gradual capacity. Stengel has been a ried my best friend in 1966 increase in corporate involvement over the member of the Board since just happened to be a great years. We now stand on the brink of new December of 1980 when he w church organist. We're still challenges. We see the very good possibility join by Sherwood Berg, then Pr of adding to our physical plant and, along with South Dakota State University. wife, Linda, " ...had a hand in it, new programs for art outreach. The Board the responsibilities of Board me bers1 he'sa nk Area Fine Arts Council has an excellent leader in the person of Ann "Surely they should be enthusia�tic members after doing aJittl� organization of children's McKay Thompson, working with a new direc­ of the museum-the biggest fans, ff you will. theater in Milba�k called Pied Pipers. We've tor, Lynda Clark. I am totally optimistic about Regular attendance of Board meetings will been fn and outof theater ever since." the future of the South Dakota Art Museum. indicate their support, but also the giving of In 1975, Jack started the Milbank There will be great days ahead." their time and monetary assistance is impor­ Choralaires, an a cappella singing group that tant." provided Christmas concerts for 10 years. A CREA T FACE IN A CREA T PLACE is a behind-the­ scenes look at the staff, volunteers, donors and board Born in Milbank in 1936, Stengel attend­ "That was really fun," he says, "but I really only members who contribute to the success of programming ed local schools before going to USO. He wanted a decent choir in which to sing. at the South Dakota Art Museum. CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP South Dakota Art Museum because no bene­ fits are given in return. DUE TO NEW IRS RULES If you have questions regarding member­ After January 1, any benefit, premium or ser­ ship dues and benefits, you may call the muse­ vice given in return for a "contribution" or um between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday "donation" must be subtracted from the tax through Friday. deductible portion of the money given. Due to differentlevels of use, it is nearly impossible to accurately calculate for each member the MUSEUM GIFT SHOP value of some member benefits like the 10% SHIFTS FOCUS TO discount in the gift shop and the Members Preview receptions. Because of this we have SOUTH DAKOTA CRAFTS been advised by experts in IRS issues for not­ The South Dakota Art Museum's Gift Shop is for-profit organizations, to collect membership looking for high quality handcrafted jewelry, 11 the south "dues" rather than contributions or donations. baskets, ceramics, weavings and other items illcontain an addi­ According to the experts, cultural arts by South Dakota artisans to sell on a consign­ et of organizations are third on the list of types of ment basis. Smaller pieces retailing for 1ess ans stor­ not-for-profits to be targeted for IRS audits and than $100 are preferred, however, some larg­ e project, investigations this year. Because we want to er and more expensive items will be consid­ ing of the avoid creating problems with the IRS for our ered. All work will be insured and consign­ approxi- members and for the museum, we will be fol­ ment payments made quarterly. lowing their suggestions. The Gift Shop is also interested in ound in Membership categories and benefits will expanding its selection of music and open­ remain the same. The money you pay, howev­ cassettes/CDs by South Dakota artists. time will er, will be referred to as dues and will not be Recordings by cowboy poets of South Dakota orking eligible for a charitable deduction. Since most would also be a welcome addition. design, memberships are at the $25 level and the ben­ Interested artisans should send slides or mion dol­ efits amount to nearly that much, the change photos of work along with a letter which We'II keep will not have an effect on the majority of our includes suggested retail price, length of time members. On the other hand, a gift to our required to fill orders and available quantity. operational endowment fund is fully Address: Ruth Emerick, Gift Shop Manager, deductible with a receipt provided by the South Dakota Art Museum, Box 2250, Brookings, SD 57007. seum Needs YOU!

Your membership dues support special exhibitions, visiting artists, South Dakota Art Museum Membership Application/Renewal lectures, exhibitions which tour the state, film programs and many other activities sponsored by the South Dakota Art Museum. After looking over the membership categories and their benefits, Name as it should appear in publication we hope you will join us in providing art-based experiences which are both enriching and educational for the people of South Address Phone Dakota. Member ($25 annually): The South Dakota Art Museum News (published quarterly), you will be listed in the News when City State Zip you join or renew your membership and in the Summer newsletter, invitations to members-only events, and a 10% Amount enclosed: $ _____ , , discount on gift shop purchases and special program fees. ($25 $100 $250, $500, $1,000). Supporting Member ($100 annually): All the Member benefits Please make check payable to South Dakota Art Museum and plus the American Indian Art Calendar. send it with this application to: Sustaining Member ($250 annually): Benefits listed above and exhibition catalogs. South Dakota Art Museum Patrons ($500 annually): A year's subscription to Art News in Medary Avenue at Harvey Dunn Street addition to benefits listed in the other categories. P.O. Box 2250 Benefactors ($1,000 annually): Receive all the benefits of the Brookings, South Dakota 57007 other members and a listing as exhibition sponsor. Corporate- membership begins at $100 and, unless otherwise Membership dues are not tax deductible. arranged, benefits will be provided to the organization's CEO.

Volunteer opportunities are available. Call 605-688-5423 for more information. Renewing Members since Milo F. Bryn, Brookings Board of Trustees Dana & Camille Crooks, Volga Ann McKay Thompson, Pierre, President September, 1993 Robert & Emma Dimit, Brookings Jack Stengel, Milbank, Vice President Debra Archer, Brookings Mrs. Rubye Frie, Brookings Herbert E. Cheever, Jr., Brookings, Secretary BankFirst/M.A. & Karen Lund, Sioux Falls Richard & Joanie Holm, Brookings J. W. Abbott, Yankton Virgil & Eileen Bell, Brookings Lenore S. Holthusen, New York Phyllis Bartling, Brookings Charles & Mary Lou Berry, Brookings George & Paula Lohr, Littleton, CO Hilton M. Briggs, Brookings Terry & Sharon Casey, Chamberlain Walter & Helen Morgan, Brookings Dona S. Brown, Huron Gary & Rosemary Chappell, Brookings Henry & Elizabeth Pringle, Madison, WI Walter Carlson, Sioux Falls Ralph & Elizabeth Cline, Brookings Mrs. Geneva W. Reyelts, Britton Sharon Casey, Chamberlain Richard & Beverly Craddock, Brookings Milton & Aline Rich, Brookings James Grommersch, Brookings Lloyd & Maxine Darnall, Brookings Orville A. Stangl, Java Jocelyn Hanson, Sioux Falls Mrs. Ellen Davidson, Brookings Larry Stine, Brookings Karen Lund, Sioux Falls Albert & Thelma Dittman, Brookings Lynnette & John Taylor, Brookings Vera Way Marghab, Watertown Margaret Duggan, Brookings Ronold & Janice Tesch, Brookings Larry Ness, Yankton Roald & Pat Eidsness, Brookings Calvin & Denice Vaudrey, Brookings Larry Piersol, Sioux Falls Sandra J. Evers, Brookings Woodrow P. Wentzy, Brookings Nancy Sexauer, Brookings Robert & Jessie Finch, Brookings Robert T. Wagner, Brookings Mr. & Mrs. Jack G. Fuller, Jr., Cheshire, CT Gift/Memorial Contributors Olga Gilbertson, Brookings Irene G. Abel, Brookings Guild Directors C. Bruce Hamilton, Omaha, NE Ruth Alexander, Brookings Celeste Harrington, Wentworth Kay Romans, President Allen & Marian Barnes, Brookings Margy Chamberlin, Vice President Elsie Hart, Brookings Sherwood & Betty Berg, Brookings William & Margaret Lytle, Brookings Merle Gunsalus, Secretary Paul & Evelyn Carson, Brookings Cecilia Beirne, Treasurer Vera Way Marghab, Watertown Herb & Synda Cheever, Brookings Larry Stine, Historian James & Dorothy Morgan, Brookings Rachel & Vitalis Cole, Brookings Glen & Doreen Nachtigal, Brookings Naomi Gilkerson Frank & Mildred Denholm, Brookings Dee Kirkbride James & Margaret O'Connell, Brookings Clarence & Margaret Denton, Brookings Oscar & Elaine Olson, Brookings Charles & Elizabeth Easton, Brookings Robert & Helen Peterson, Brookings Genevieve M. Fleming, Flandreau Staff James & Roxanne Skulstad, Brookings Robert & Geneva Foster, Brookings Lynda Clark, Director John & Betty Soreng, Eugene, OR Willis & Jean Franz, Newcastle, WY Francine Marcel, Exhibitions Curator SD Association for Family & Community Education, GFWC Wessington Women's Study Club, Cora Sivers, Marghab Collection Curator Custer Wessington Debra Archer, Senior Secretary Jack & Linda Stengel, Milbank Bette Gerberding, Brookings Ruth Emerick, Gift Shop Manager Larry Stine, Brookings David & Naomi Gilkerson, Brookings Cheryl Paige, Building Custodian Verna Sturdevant, Brookings Lloyd & Roberta Hansen, Brookings Lisa Antony, Assistant Charlie & Ann McKay Thompson, Pierre James H. Hanson, Winters, TX Wade Hillesheim, Assistant Rev. & Mrs. Frank Thorburn, Brookings Ernest & Mildred Hugghins, Brookings Cheryl Jorenby, Assistant Mr. & Mrs. Phillip Wagner, Brookings Dr. & Mrs. Harlan Klug, Brookings Deb Mersch, Assistant Florence Walder, Brookings Donna M. Korotie, Fresno, CA Ryan Palmer, Assistant Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Way, Watertown Sylvia A. Lasky, San Francisco, CA Kelli Ramey, Assistant David & Mary Leonard, Boulder, CO Teri Swanz, Assistant New Members Donald Liebsch, Brookings Jerianne Toriseva, Assistant Susan Boettcher, Brookings John C. & Mary E. Murphy, Rapid City Cindy Cecil, Brookings Lois M. Nelson, Hills, MN Donna Ritter, Brookings James & Peg O'Connell, Brookings Arlene Seas, Brookings Endowment Contributors SD 4-H Leaders Assoc. NCRLF, Aberdeen Ruth Alexander, Brookings James & Mary Tritle, Brookings SOOTHll'\KDTA ARIS CCXWJL Louis & Elizabeth Williams, Brookings support is provided with funds from Allen & Marian Barnes, Brookings the State legislatureand the National John & Opal Beatty, Brookings Endowment forthe Arts David & Sharyn Bozied, Brookings 2600 copies of this newsletter were printed by the South Dakota Art Museum at a cost of $.40 each. MA001 1-94

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