CHICAGO - From Big Horn County to the big city, the Crow Tribe will be front and center at the Field Museum in Chicago.
The Apsáalooke Women and Warriors exhibit opens, Friday, March 13.
The front steps of the museum are donned with five large canvases featuring the work of Crow Artist Ben Pease and his painting “Sacred Under The Cliffs of the Yellowstone”.
Apsáalooke Women and Warriors features the work of 20 Crow artists ranging from fashion, to paint, sculpture, beadwork, film, music, and photography.
“The exhibition tells the stories of the historic journeys and spiritual quests of the Apsáalooke people, told from Apsáalooke points of view. By featuring items from Field Museum collections as well as newly created artworks, the exhibition will offer museum visitors fascinating and often unexpected entry points into these stories,” said Jaap Hoogstraten, Director of Exhibitions at the Field Museum
The exhibit is curated by Nina Sanders, who grew up on the Crow Reservation in Garryowen.
It's the museum's first large scale exhibit curated by a Native American scholar.
“It was important this project be truly collaborative and as inclusive as possible. From this the exhibition grew into an opportunity for both the Field and the University of Chicago to exhibit the shields, the artwork, and intellectual contributions of many Apsáalooke People,” Sanders said.
The artists and others featured in the exhibit traveled to Chicago this week for a VIP reception on Tuesday.
One feature of the exhibit will be seven never before displayed Apsáalooke war shields.
“The shields inspire us, they remind us that people have the ability to defy the laws of physics and change the course of nature and history. The shields represent superhuman potential and divine intervention,” Sanders said.
In a press release, the Field Museum said for many years, Native American communities weren't given the opportunity to tell their stories in museums, which is why they saw it important to share the story of the Crow Tribe.
Apsáalooke Women and Warriors runs through April of 2021.
The Field Museum lists the following artists and researchers as contributors to the project:
· Phenocia Bauerle, scholarly consultant
· Della Bighair-Stump, fashion designer
· Aaron Brien, scholarly consultant and filmmaker
· Del Curfman, painter
· Bethany Yellowtail, fashion designer
· Jason Garcia, illustrator
· Karis Jackson, beadwork artist
· Allen Knows His Gun, painter
· JoRee LaFrance, scholarly consultant
· Marty Lopez, filmmaker
· Timothy McCleary, scholarly consultant
· Mona Medicine Crow, painter
· Supaman, musician
· Elias Not Afraid, beadwork artist
· Ben Pease, sculptor and painter
· Birdie Real Bird, beadwork artist and scholarly consultant
· Kevin Red Star, painter
· Nina Sanders, curator
· Adam Sings In The Timber, photographer
