On view at the Hillstrom Museum of Art from February 15 through April 18, 2021, is From These Hands: Fiber Art and Poetry by Gwen Westerman, featuring the work of Dakota scholar, artist, and poet Gwen Westerman.
The artist, a faculty member in the English department at Minnesota State University, Mankato, has collaborated with the Museum in the past, when she served as co-curator and artistic contributor to the Museum’s 2012-2013 exhibition Hena Uŋkiksuyapi: In Commemoration of the Dakota Mass Execution of 1862. That exhibit was occasioned by the 150th anniversary of the largest mass execution in U.S. history, in which 38 Dakota were hanged in Mankato on December 26, 1862, following the end of the U.S.-Dakota War.
This current exhibit, From These Hands, includes important loans from The Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul and The Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. It is accompanied by a fully-illustrated brochure, which will be available at the Museum and in pdf form on the Hillstrom Museum of Art website. A video walk-through tour of the exhibit will also be available on the Museum website.
NOTE: due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no opening reception for From These Hands, and hours at the Museum may be restricted. As of the opening of the exhibit, the general public is generally not allowed on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College. Those from the general public wishing to visit the exhibits must email hillstrom@gustavus.edu to seek an appointment as an invited guest of the College (note that this process typically will take at least two days). For more information, including updates to Museum hours and visitation, please see the Museum website.
