Marion Post Wolcott: Photographing the South

September 21–December 21, 2008

During the latter years of the Depression, from 1938 to 1941, Marion Post Wolcott worked as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration traveling throughout the country to document improvements in rural life afforded by government planning and funding. Many of her best known photographs were made during her travels to the Deep South where she followed cotton farmers, field hands, and migrant workers through the routine of their daily lives. This exhibition provides a glimpse of life in the South during those years, especially focusing on life in Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama. Wolcott’s photographs present viewers with rich images that transcend their original documentary purpose and provide a greater understanding of the hardships and pleasures of life during that era.

Sharon Louden

September 28, 2008–January 4, 2009

This exhibition presents new work by New York-based artist Sharon Louden that will visually connect the Museum’s galleries and its Sculpture Garden. Louden’s work primarily focuses on gesture, line, and materials. She uses three mediums in this project: fiber optic sculpture in the trees and surroundings of the Sculpture Garden, along with projected video animations and paintings inside the galleries.

New Hands, Native Lands: Contemporary American Indian Ceramics and Textiles

October 5, 2008–January 11, 2009

This exhibition features recent Navajo pictorial textiles and pottery from Hopi, Santa Clara, and other Pueblos of the American southwest. Weavers include Elizabeth Yazzie and the late Isabel John, and potters include Dextra Quotskuyva, Linda Tafoya-Oyenque, and Jacob Koopee, Jr., among others. Many are descended from several generations of artists, such as Koopee, great-great grandson of the famous 19th century Hopi potter Nampeyo. The works of art blend tradition and innovation in both craft and design.