Tashina Pheasant shows her beadwork; she also has a basket in the show.
Not long ago, Grove Arcade ARTS & Heritage Gallery director Karen Kennedy was at Cherokee High School meeting with woodcarver and instructor Bud Smith, and she happened to see students’ work. She was “blown away” by the level of skill and artistry that some of these students are already bringing to their work, and an exhibition at the Asheville gallery of students’ work has come from that chance encounter.
Shifting Winds: Artists of Cherokee High School brings together work from more than 60 talented young artists who are engaged in native artistic traditions, including beadwork, wood carving, pottery, painting, drawing and basket weaving. The exhibition will be on view through April 16, 2008.
Shifting Winds is a partnership between the gallery and Cherokee High School, and it received funding from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Teachers from the Cherokee High School Art Department curated work and provided guidance to the students as they prepared to participate in what is the first exhibition for many. “We welcome the opportunity for our students to showcase their work,” said Bud Smith. “The exhibition gives our students first-hand experience with some important aspects of the art industry.”
Many of the pieces are traditional; others use tradition as a starting point for an exploration of a new approach. Basketmakers Alisa Long and Brittany Lossiah had their technique and designs passed down to them from their grandmothers.
Michael Stamper’s possum effigy pot refers to the Cherokee folktale relating the story of how the vain possum lost the hair on his tail. The woodcarvings range from masks and figures to war clubs.
The exhibition takes its title from a literary magazine produced by students at Cherokee High School. The students created an original video production for the Shifting Winds exhibition that illustrates how a new generation of artists has adapted technology to revive and continue ancient art forms.
The Grove Arcade ARTS & Heritage Gallery is located in Suite 115 of the Grove Arcade on O. Henry Avenue in Asheville.
