An opening reception on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Lander Art Center will launch a new exhibit of Native American art work. It’s the show’s second year in a row and comes in honor of National Native American Heritage Month. The exhibit will showcase over 50 artists, mostly from Wind River Indian Reservation. Director Lisa Hueneke says, this year, about half the artists are students from reservation high schools. She says the exhibit demonstrates a wide diversity of artistic styles. One of the artists on display is Al Hubbard, a Northern Arapaho and Navajo artist.
“Al Hubbard does really interesting contemporary, really contemporary work,” Heuneke says. “He uses image transfer on canvas, tissue paper, acrylic ink. Really complex images.”
Director Lisa Hueneke says the show has grown significantly since last year and she hopes to see it continue to expand into the future. She’s particularly interested in including fiber artists and Native American dance regalia.
“It’s a matter of finding them, reaching out to them and hoping they want to participate,” she says. “That’s part of our goal is to see this sort of grow into something that can really show a sampling of the work that’s being done. There’s many artists that are on the Wind River Reservation.”
The artwork will also be displayed at the public library and Old Town Coffee, both in Lander. The opening reception is Friday at 6 p.m. at the art center. The show runs through December 20th.