Week of July 10, 2017

Image courtesy of Ashley Fairbanks
SCAFFOLD: THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST
AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GIVING OTHERS' STORIES JUSTICE 
Jen Coppoc is a a Senior Lecturer of American Indian Studies and English at Iowa State University. For this contributing article, she shared her perspectives on the controversial sculpture Scaffold, which was erected for the reopening of the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden. We're thankful for her contribution and are eager to continue dialogue regarding the role and responsibility of the artist -- a subject we're no stranger to at University Museums.

It is December 26, 1862. Mankato, MN. The day after Christmas. There is snow on the ground but it is an otherwise crisp, clear winter day. Nearly 4,000 people have gathered to watch 38 Dakota men executed by hanging - what will become the largest mass execution in U.S. history. 1,500 soldiers surround the scaffold to keep the crowd from mobbing the prisoners and exacting their own ideas of punishment. Three drum beats, a single ax to cut a rope, and the scaffolding falls. 38 Dakota bodies dangle until a physician officially declares each man dead. The bodies are removed and buried in a mass grave on a sandy riverbank nearby. Later that night, the grave is reopened and 38 Dakota bodies are distributed among doctors. Cadavers are in high demand for anatomical study. Dead Indians are easy to come by.

It is May, 2017. Minneapolis, MN. Sam Durant's sculpture,
Scaffold, stands behind construction gates while the site is prepared for the reopening of The Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden. Durant's
Scaffold is a replica of gallows used in historic U.S. government executions - including the Dakota 38. There is a sign written by a protester that hangs on the gates surrounding the construction site that reads: "Not your story."  To me, that says it all.
 
To read the rest of Coppoc's contributing piece, click here.

Women Speak of Spring
, 1991 by Kenojuak Ashevak (Inuit, 1927-2013). Lithograph

Creative by Nature
The Bohan Collection of Inuit Art

John L. and Ethel Margaret Gillmor Bohan (B.S. Iowa State University 1938) were thoughtful and engaged collectors. Their interest and passion for the art of the Inuit people of South Baffin Island in Arctic Canada is evident in the knowledge and love of this art that was passed along to their children, who generously donated their parent's collection to University Museums.  

The exhibition runs through July 30 in the Brunnier Art Museum.
Adidas commissioned 12 women artists to create a special, one-of-a-kind sneaker for each US state.  The artists used a variety of mediums to recreate iconic, state-appropriate imagery on the shoes.
Chicago-based artist Mari Or r designed Iowa citing,  "Gorgeous green patchwork reflects Iowa's bountiful tapestry of farmland."
See the full sneaker states here.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEA
FUNDING ALWAYS MATTERS. READ MORE HERE.
For hours, locations and upcoming exhibit information, 

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