Mementos and Milestones: New Work by Tammy Rahr, Kelly Church and America Meredith
January 10, 2009 through February 8, 2009 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
 Lloyd Kiva New Gallery, IAIA Museum, 108 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe, NM 87501 (Click here for a map)
Three talented IAIA alumnae come together for Mementos and Milestones opening with a reception January 10, 2009 from 2 pm. – 4 p.m. at the IAIA Museum Store.
Kelly Church (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians), America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) and Tammy Rahr (Cayuga) explore how their work is influenced by seasons, constellations, phases of the moon, life cycles—all movement through space and time—and how this inspires them to create. They contemplate how art encapsulates day to day experiences, whether it be a word stitched on a beaded whimsy, the function of a black ash basket, or the symbolism in a painting. Mementos and Milestones continues until February 8, 2009, and all work is available for purchase. The IAIA Museum Store is located at 108 Cathedral Place in downtown Santa Fe.
America Meredith explains that the show was born from thinking about art as a part of life in the form of one’s keepsakes, memorials and souvenirs. “Perhaps overlooked by the mainstream art world, we maintain that these are the art forms that mean the most to us on a personal level.” Meredith will be showing two painting series: one of Mississippian designs that represent moon cycles, and one based on her personal tattoos. She will also display a painting that incorporates a Cherokee incantation for finding a sweetheart, inspired by the first American Indian same-sex wedding she ever attended.
Tammy Rahr will exhibit small beaded whimsies that integrate classic Iroquois designs with surprising subject matter like UFOs or VW bugs. Her intricately beaded bracelets of mountains and constellations will be included, as well as an installation to evoke the by-gone trend of the Victorian sitting room.
Kelly Church’s work will travel to Santa Fe from Michigan, including her Woodland paintings rendered in a visionary style inspired by artist Norval Morrisseau, birch bark bitings (a largely unknown art form where one makes bite marks on folded pieces of bark to create images) and woven black ash baskets. The exhibit will explain her basketry, noting why each was made and for what occasion, whether it be a wedding, birth of a new child or other important life events.
For more information about this exhibit, please call the IAIA Museum Store at 505.983.1666.
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