November 7, 2023 — One of the largest curations of indigenous art from across New York State is now being featured at the New York State Museum. Each One Inspired: Indigenous Art Across the Homelands looks at the sources of inspiration for Indigenous artists from across the state. This is the third time this collection has been put together, and the current iteration is the largest so far.“It opened at Syracuse University in 2021, where it was specifically just Haudenosaunee art in our collection, then it traveled to St. Lawrence University, and then we had an opportunity to have it here,” said Dr. Gwendolyn Saul.
Saul, a PEF member with the title “Museum Scientist 3,” curated the exhibit. She has worked at the museum since 2016. Before that, she worked and lived in the southwest and did her graduate work at the University of Mexico. While there, she spent her time working at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and working with Diné (Navajo) communities on different projects.
An exhibit of this size typically takes three to nine months to prepare for public view, according to Saul. But because the museum and Saul already had many pieces in their collection, enough of the groundwork was done to help get this show up and ready in just three and a half months.
“When I originally came up with the concept, it was during the pandemic. I was thinking about what kinds of inspiration we were holding on to during this time,” Saul said. “I would come into the museum to check on the collection and think about the artwork and the artists that we represent, and I really wanted to share that inspiration with people.”
The theme of the show is all about inspiration, but also takes the time to explore connections to land, community, ancestry, history and even connections to current events and issues as well.
One piece, a pottery design by Natasha Smoke Santiago, is dedicated to and commemorates the water protectors at Standing Rock. Another piece, a corn husk installation piece by Erin Lee Antonak titled “Mom,” is both a tribute to the artist’s mother and to the tradition of Haudenosaunee people using corn husks in multiple ways (shoes, dolls, salt bottles) for generations.
The exhibit documents only personal stories of struggle, triumph, and celebration, while drawing from shared cultures and traditions and looking to the future.
Saul worked closely with many artists and got to know them and their work intimately while collecting pieces for the museum. She has been incredibly impressed by bead work artists, who take small glass beads and design intricate pieces for clothes, bags, and more.
“The more I got to know people and read up on the history and scholarship of beadwork, the more I became impressed with it,” Saul said. “It tells a story of community, resilience, and determination. For so long, bead workers were relying on what they sold at Niagara Falls and Saratoga Springs to put food on the table.”
For as much joy as this exhibit brings to Saul, the one thing that she admittedly does not enjoy is the amount of paperwork required for the State to purchase artwork. Private museums can grow their collections much faster without all the bureaucracy.
“In some ways, that is to our advantage, because you really have to have a relationship and agreement with the artists,” Saul said. “It’s a challenge, but it’s also a good thing.”
Each One Inspired: Indigenous Art Across the Homelands is a free exhibit available for public viewing in the West Gallery at the New York State Museum. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, except on state-observed holidays, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Click here to visit the website and learn more.