Artist Robert Kentta demonstrates how Native American regalia is made

For immediate release: May 13, 2014
Media contact: Andrea Foust
Membership and Public Relations Manager
Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University | 503-370-6867
Public contact: 503-370-6855 | museum-art@willamette.edu

Artist demonstration with Robert Kentta focuses on the creation of Native American regalia

The public is invited to an artist demonstration with Confederated Tribes of the Siletz member Robert Kentta on May 24 between noon and 4 p.m. at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. Kentta will be demonstrating how traditional regalia for the Siletz Naydosh or Feather Dance is created. The work will be adorned with pine nuts, abalone, beads, & shells and thanks to an "Art Works" grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, one of Kentta’s dance regalia works will become part of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art’s permanent collection.

Robert Kentta is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz as well as their Cultural Resources Director and Tribal Council Treasurer. Kentta’s ancestors, who hailed from the Rogue River, Applegate, and Shasta regions, were brought to the Siletz Reservation in 1856 at the end of the Rogue River War. Kentta’s regalia has been featured previously in the museum’s “Art of Ceremony” exhibition (2008-2009) and includes numerous pieces that are actively used in traditional ceremonies.

Rebecca Dobkins, the museum’s Faculty Curator of Native American Art says, "Robert Kentta is not only an exceptionally talented artist, but has a breadth and depth of traditional knowledge that informs his work and that he actively shares with other Siletz tribal members. We are incredibly fortunate that he is making time to bring his art-making to the Hallie Ford Museum of Art to share with our visitors."

Additionally funded Native American art additions to the museum

Kentta’s traditional regalia will join the contemporary Native American artwork of Marie Watt and Joe Feddersen, whose works were also supported by "Art Works" grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

In November, Feddersen’s three dimensional mixed-media fused glass and copper work “Fish Trap” joined the museum’s collection. Joe Feddersen is a member of The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington and is an internationally recognized artist. Additional funding for his project was provided by endowment funds from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through their Spirit Mountain Community Fund.

On May 28, Watt’s “Blanket Stories: First Teachers, Wallamet, Crow's Shadow,” a contemporary blanket sculpture, was installed in the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Gallery at the museum. Watt is a nationally recognized Portland mixed-media artist whose work explores human stories and ritual implicit in everyday objects. She grew up in Wyoming on a ranch and has ties to the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nation (Haudenosaunee). Additional funding for her project was provided by the Maribeth Collins Art Acquisition Fund and endowment funds from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, through their Spirit Mountain Community Fund.

About the Hallie Ford Museum of Art

Oregon's third largest art museum features works by Pacific Northwest and Native American artists, and includes a diverse collection of traditional European, American and Asian art, as well as artifacts that date from antiquity. Frequently changing exhibitions include lectures, special events, tours, artist demonstrations and educational opportunities for children and adults.

The museum is located at 700 State St. in Salem. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Monday. General admission is $6, $4 for seniors and $3 for students 18 and older. Students 17 and under and children are admitted free. Admission is free for everyone on Tuesdays. For more information call 503-370-6855 or visit willamette.edu/arts/hfma.

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