Through Their Eyes: Indian Painting in Santa Fe, 1918-1945 by Michelle McGeough. Paperback.

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THROUGH THEIR EYES; Indian Painting in Santa Fe, 1918-1945, by MICHELLE McGEOUGH

A catalog published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title at the Wheelwright Museum. May 17, 2009 - April 18, 2010.

This book is a history of Native American easel painting in Santa Fe during the tenure of art patrons and educators John sand Elizabeth DeHuff and Dorothy Dunn, of the Santa Fe Indian School. But the perspective of the catalog is that of the artists themselves. McGeough interviewed members of the artists’ tribes, consulted published works by tribal members, and used written interview and reminiscences of some of the artists. The paintings on which the book is based are from the Charlotte Greenleaf Mittler collection, which spans over eighty years.

Chapter one examines how advocates of progressive education helped create an environment where easel painting became an accepted form of creative expression for Native American students. The second chapter examines the paintings as visual documents of the artists’ worldviews and cultural values and as expressions of individual and collective responses to a rapidly changing world. Chapter three is an interview with the collector, whose family has supported the arts as an integral part of life.

Curently McGeough is the Museum Studies Art History Chair at IAIA in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  McGeough was Assistant Curator at the Wheelwright Museum from 2006-2009. She got her M.A. in art history from Carleton University, Ottawa, with a specialization in aboriginal art. She holds an associate of arts degree from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, a B.F.A. and diploma in media arts from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, and a B. Ed. from the University of Alberta, Edmonton.

253 pp, $40 (softcover)
over 250 color illustrations and 17 black-and-white photographs
9" X 11"
Item #BA656.