BRIDGEPORT, CT — Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA) at Connecticut State Community College Housatonic has partnered with Art Bridges Foundation in Bentonville, Arkansas, to present “Storytelling Through the Art of Julie Buffalohead”, a free community program on Wed., Nov. 20.
This event is the result of an Art Bridges Learning & Engagement project that is centered around Resurrection by Julie Buffalohead, a celebrated Native American artist and member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma. A hands-on artmaking workshop and discussion will explore the themes found in Buffalohead’s work, which is on loan from the Art Bridges Collection and currently on view in the Beacon Hall Event Center.
Attendees will engage in the artmaking workshop led by Darlene Kascak, Educational Outreach Ambassador at the Institute for American Indian Studies and a Schaghticoke Tribal Nation storyteller. Drawing inspiration from Buffalohead’s Resurrection, participants will create memory bead necklaces as active storytelling tools that deepen their connection to the painting.
As part of the event, Dr. Royce K. Young Wolf (Hiraacá, Nu’eta, and Sosore, ancestral Apsáalooke and Nʉmʉnʉʉ) — the inaugural Assistant Curator of Native American Art at Yale University Art Gallery and the Collection Manager of the Native North American and Indigenous Collection at the Yale Peabody Museum — will lead a discussion on the cultural significance of the artwork and Buffalohead’s broader impact as a Native American artist.
The partnership between Art Bridges and the HMA represents a pioneering effort to integrate student-led programming with professional, community-based art education. With this initiative, two community college interns have taken on key roles in selecting the artwork, applying for the grant and conceptualizing and delivering the event, underscoring the potential of community colleges to drive innovative art experiences. These students collaborated closely with Buffalohead, as well as Kascak and Dr. Young Wolf, and have helped shape a program that fosters engagement with Native American perspectives.
What: Storytelling through the Art of Julie Buffalohead
When: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Time: 3-6 p.m.
Where: Housatonic Museum of Art, Beacon Hall Event Center, 900 Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport, Connecticut. Free parking in the CT State Housatonic parking lot, 870 Lafayette Blvd.
This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP at bit.ly/hma-buffalohead-rsvp.
Visit housatonicmuseum.org to learn more.