SCSU Music and New Media: Native Inspired: MusicDanceTheatreVisualArtMedia

Gallery Exhibition at Perpich Center for Arts Education
Golden Valley, MN
January 2011

Nothing says collaboration and interrelated media quite like a recent public exhibit at Perpich Center for Arts Education during the month of January 2011. The “Arts High School,” as it is commonly known, draws gifted arts-focused students who, whether musicians, dancers, painters, writers, or media artists, take classes in most every discipline, as well as secondary school academics required by the state of Minnesota.

High school juniors and seniors drew inspiration from the Native American Arts & Culture and American Indian Aesthetics classes that were taught this last fall and winter. At the gallery opening of “Native Inspired” on January 6th, dancers and musicians performed live pieces to complement the visual art works on display. Three of the musicians in the class improvised to "Nanook of the North" and, according to their teacher Tom Kanthak, “We often created ‘stuff’ during the class while I read stories, played music” and such. Media students participated in a video production that introduced the exhibit to the public via their local Patch online news. http://goldenvalley.patch.com/articles/video-native-inspired-gallery-opens-at-arts-high-school-in-golden-valley#photo-4343857 Native American elders were on hand to share their stories and experiences with visitors at intimate table settings. And, of course, there were many interesting, inspiring, and beautiful visual arts pieces to view and ponder. All of these various artistic expressions emerged from the two classes.

The Center of Forever
Emi Hasty
“When award-winning Minnesota author Kent Nerburn spoke to our class earlier this year, he said, ‘Blue is the color of forever.’ These words served as an inspiration for this piece of art. I have been fascinated with Native American history, aesthetics, and culture this fall and winter. I’ve used the class as a catalyst for my own research and I have found inspiration in my discoveries. I’ve realized that when I really pay attention, I see that all my experiences all fit together into a sort of beautiful patchwork puzzle!
In this piece, I am exploring the idea of found objects in creating art. The Native American aesthetic is often defined by the materials used to create functional objects of beauty. I’ve used materials from my home including iris sees from my garden and pushpins from my basement. I look at this as an experiment in visual limitations.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have been blessed to have had this semester in this class. I want to continue to learn and create art inspired by earth centered traditions and cultures. Mii gwetch!”

A Little Piece of Everything (watercolor)
Taylor Moretter

“I named this because compared to all the native american stuff we learn, we are just a tiny piece of it. there is so much to learn and tom does a great job at teaching us. I love the kiddish style of this drawing. tom has a very easy going way of teaching us. I based this drawing of a painting call ‘as time passes.’ note: this is my first and last time using a typewriter. thank you.”

Native American Aesthetics
Hanna Peterson
“For the pictures I showed in Tom Kanthak’s gallery, I did not focus on Native American culture, but mostly used my own inspiration and connected it with the things that we have discussed and learned. I used different types of printing for an on-looker to not only see my pictures, but feel as if they are there. The pictures are a collection of old photography and new technology that has taken over the media world. One of the pictures is digital and phoshopped and two of them are silver gelin prints that were developed in the darkroom, and one of those is handcolored with oil paings. I have a collaboration of styles to represent that Native American culture is still becoming part of society and should be always recognized.”

Duality (charcoal and marker)
Asmaa Bint Abdul-Azeem
“The four directions and the Fibonacci sequence. These are aspects of the way of the world and how it works are really interesting, because I believe even if people have unlocked puzzle pieces of it, there will always be an abundance of mystery. These mysteries are symbolized by declarations of shapes, numbers and images. I used the butterfly because it is a common symbol of transformation and that metaphor is a main theme that I honor. Behind the butterfly is a glyph of the four directions, a major focus in the American Indian aesthetics. My picture is taking non-obvious happenings and manifesting them in a sort of raw expressionist manner.”