TRANSFORMATIONS: The George and Colleen Hoyt Collection of Northwest Coast Art
September 17 – December 17, 2022
Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
Northwest Coast Native art, as practiced by First Nations and tribes from the mouth of the Columbia River to British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, is considered one of the great sculptural traditions of the world. Historically, objects ranged from masks and totem poles to bentwood boxes and other types of utilitarian objects and were characterized by the use of formlines and shapes referred to as ovoids, U forms, and S forms. The most common materials used were cedar, stone, and copper, and the most common colors were red and black. The subject matter of these sculptures and other objects included humans and animals that made up the rich, vibrant, and dynamic legacy of Northwest Coast mythology, including myths associated with Raven and Thunderbird.
During the first half of the twentieth century, when Canadian and US government repression was at its height, relatively few Native artists were producing traditional Northwest Coast Native art, but by the late 1940s, a handful of artists and academics such as Mungo Martin, Charles Gladstone, Bill Holm, and Bill Reid spearheaded a resurgence of traditional Northwest Coast art forms and designs. Over the past seventy-five years, the tradition has continued to thrive and prosper as one generation of artists has trained the next in carving techniques. And, since the 1960s, Native artists have used the printmaking medium as a vehicle for sharing their history and culture with audiences around the world.
Over the last thirty-five years, Oregon collectors George and Colleen Hoyt have amassed one of the finest private collections of contemporary Northwest Coast Native art in the United States. TRANSFORMATIONS: The George and Colleen Hoyt Collection of Northwest Coast Art traces the history of contemporary Northwest Coast Native art from the 1950s to the present. Organized by Rebecca Dobkins, professor of anthropology and curator of Indigenous art, the exhibition includes works by some of the foremost Native artists of our region, including Doug Cranmer, Robert Davidson, Beau Dick, and Susan Point, among many others. The collection is a promised gift from the Hoyts to the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.
In addition to the objects on display, the exhibition is accompanied by a wide variety of education programs, including carving demonstrations, a film presentation, and a gallery talk with exhibition curator Rebecca Dobkins. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art has published a full-color, 216-page hardcover book with an essay on the Hoyts and contemporary Northwest Coast Native art by Dobkins, biographical information on the artists assembled by Tasia Riley, a bibliography for further reading, and more than 150 color illustrations of objects in the collection.
Exhibition Related Events
Members/VIP Opening Reception
Celebrating: TRANSFORMATIONS: The George and Colleen Hoyt Collection of Northwest Coast Art and TRANSITION to PRINT: Selections From The George And Colleen Hoyt Collection Of Northwest Coast Art
Saturday, September 17, 2022 | 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Members and museum invited guests only
New Members are welcome to join at the event or online
RSVP ONLINE BY September 10, 2022
Or by phone at 503-370-6855 or by email at museum-art@willamette.edu
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TUESDAY GALLERY TALKS
Every Tuesday, October 4 through December 13, 2022 | 12:30 p.m.
Presented by Hallie Ford Museum of Art Docents
Tours will commence in the Maribeth Collins Lobby at the museum
Free and open to the public
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CARVING DEMONSTRATION
Indigenous Carvers from Oregon and Washington
Saturday, October 8, 2022 | 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Maribeth Collins Lobby at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Free and open to the public
MORE INFORMATION
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HFMA WELCOME FIGURE DEDICATION
Bobby Mercier Welcome Figure
Saturday, October 8, 2022 | 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Maribeth Collins Lobby at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Free and open to the public
MORE INFORMATION
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FILM SHOWING
Meet Beau Dick: Maker of Monsters (2017, color, 92 minutes)
Thursday, October 20, 2022 | 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art
A documentary film about the Kwakwaka'wakw artist and activist, with an introduction by exhibition curator Rebecca Dobkins.
Free and open to the public
MORE INFORMATION
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SATURDAY GALLERY TALK WITH
EXHIBITION CURATOR REBECCA DOBKINS
November 5, 2022 | 10:00 a.m. - Noon
Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
This gallery talk was limited to 30 reservations which have been filled.
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FINAL SATURDAY GALLERY TALK
December 17, 2022 | 1 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Presented by Hallie Ford Museum of Art Docents
Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Complimentary with museum admission
Financial Support
This exhibition has been supported in part with funds from the George and Colleen Hoyt Northwest Coast Indigenious Art Fund; with endowment funds from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, through their Spirit Mountain Community Fund; by advertising support from The Oregonian/Oregon Live; and by general operating support grants from the City of Salem's Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
Land Acknowledgement
We gather on the land of the Kalapuya, who today are represented by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, whose relationship with this land continues to this day. We offer gratitude for the land itself, for those who have stewarded it for generations, and for the opportunity to study, learn, work, and be in community on this land. We acknowledge that our University’s history, like many others, is fundamentally tied to the first colonial developments in the Willamette Valley. Finally, we respectfully acknowledge and honor past, present, and future Indigenous students of Willamette.
