‘Storytelling’

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

‘Storytelling: Native People Through the Lens of Edward S. Curtis” is on view through April 30 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

The exhibit situates the artist and the people he photographed in the context of American colonialism, inviting viewers to reconsider pervasive popculture beliefs about native life and history.

Influenced by the pictorialist movement of the early 20th century, Mr. Curtis set out to create a photo and ethnographic record of indigenous peoples living in Western regions from the Mexican border to Alaskan and more open hours. From photographs, I have seen there used to be a lot of space with tables where people can sit. We have some space for people to sit but not enough, due to the increased capacity for materials. The community is demanding in terms of the materials that they want. We have had to boost the materials we have.”

Ms. Gray has clearly loved being a librarian.

“I love being around books,” she told the News-Press. “My mother was a library director, so I grew up in libraries. I was sort of destined to be a librarian. I love talking with patrons about materials and making recommendations. I have read so many books in my life. I can take patrons to the right section and give them books.

I love doing reader advisory.

“I love talking to patrons, and I know so many of them. So many are in my cell phone contacts,” she said. “I have made a lot of relationships at the library.”

Ms. Gray got her start as a children’s librarian in New York and has continued to emphasize

Please see LIBRARY on B2

Photographer revisits Native people in exhibit at Natural History Museum

shores. His motivation was a belief that U.S. government policy and the land grabs of American settlers might wipe away native lifeways forever. While Mr. Curtis’s intentions were wellmeaning, his methods of staging photos bent reality into imagery that is often more art than fact. One hundred years later, indigenous people still contend with “Indian” stereotypes that are consequences of Mr. Curtis’s vision. Although many of the photographer’s images are iconic, “Storytelling: Native People Through the Lens of Edward S. Curtis” aims to show what has not previously been seen or understood. That was also the goal of the museum’s popular 2007 exhibition of Mr. Curtis’s photographs curated by museum librarian Terri Sheridan.

“This year, a strong infusion of lesser-seen imagery and new interpretation provide a broader exhibit for people in terms of what’s on the walls as well as what their takeaways might be,” said Ms. Sheridan.

The most important takeaway, according to Ms. Sheridan, is

Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements” is an exhibit that runs through March 12 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The exhibit features weavings dyed with pigments from non-native plants on Santa Cruz Island. The weavings were created by artists Helen Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt. For more information, see sbbotanicgarden.org.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Coast artist and London native Annie Hoffman’s exhibit “Seeing Ourselves in Colour” will be displayed through Feb. 28 at Gallery Los Olivos, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. For more information, visit anniehoffmann.com.

Noon to 5 p.m. “Clarence Mattei: Portrait of a Community” is on view now through May at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, which is located in downtown Santa Barbara at 136 E. De la Guerra St. Admission is free. Hours are currently from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, visit www.sbhistorical.org

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “SURREAL

WOMEN: Surrealist Art by American

Women” is on display through April 24 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, www.sullivangoss. com.

MARCH 11 10 a.m. St. Patrick’s Day parade on Main Street in downtown Ventura.

MARCH 14

Lifeline screening for cholesterol, diabetes risks, kidney and thyroid function, plaque buildup in arteries and more at the Santa Barbara Seventh-day Adventist Church, 425 Arroyo Road, Santa Barbara. Registration is required at www. lifelinescreening.com.

MARCH 16 5:30 p.m. Dr. Fabrizio Michelassi — Lewis Atterbury Stimson professor and chairman in the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center and surgeon-in-chief at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center — will present a public lecture titled “In the Eye of the Storm: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The free talk will take place at the Wolf Education and Training Center, 529 W. Junipero St., adjacent to RidleyTree Cancer Center in Santa Barbara. Reservations are required by March 10.

To attend, contact J.V. Vallejos at 805681-7528 or jvallejo@sansumclinic.org. Masks will be required.

MARCH 18

7:30 p.m. The Santa Barbara Symphony will perform “John Williams: A Cinematic Celebration” at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. To purchase tickets, go to granadasb. org. For more information, visit www. thesymphony.org or call 805-898-9386.

MARCH 19 3 p.m. The Santa Barbara Symphony will perform John Williams: A Cinematic Celebration” at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. To purchase tickets, go to granadasb.org. For more information, visit www.thesymphony. org or call 805-898-9386. — Dave Mason family services as the director of the Goleta Valley Library. She enjoys seeing kids reading books or young children pretending to read.

“It makes me so happy to see children and families in the library, it does my heart good,” she said.

Ms. Gray stressed her passion for books and literacy.

“I just think I can’t imagine a life where you don’t read for pleasure,” she said. “My life has been so enriched by reading and listening to books on CD.

My mother taught us to read at a very early age. I was a precocious reader. I was reading adult books at age 12.

“I read the ‘Scarlet Letter’ at age 11, although I didn’t fully understand it at the time. I have learned so much from books both fiction and nonfiction. I have been on the Newberry committee and Caldecott committee; these are the biggest awards in children’s literature.

“I can’t imagine not reading,”

Ms. Gray said. “You learn and enjoy it so much. I think books and authors that write them are beautiful things, and I couldn’t live without them. In my retirement, I am so excited to read all the books I have been writing down for the last 15 years.

I tend to prefer modern authors now because I read most of the classics at an early age.

“My favorite author right now is John Irving, and my favorite genre is suspense and horror. I

COURTESY PHOTO think it’s a reaction to COVID. Because COVID was so awful I needed to read books where the circumstances for characters were awful, and it made me feel better. It gave me comfort in a weird way.”

“I hope that patrons continue to see the library as a friendly community center where they feel comfortable and happy as the staff continues to provide great customer service,” director Allison Gray said about the legacy she hopes to leave behind at the Goleta Valley Library.

The News-Press asked Ms. Gray what legacy she hopes to leave behind.

“I hope that patrons continue to see the library as a friendly community center where they feel comfortable and happy as the staff continues to provide great customer service. I am very confident that the staff will continue to do that after I leave. It is a wonderful group of people who work at the library.”

She noted the city of Goleta has supported the Goleta Valley Library for the last five years.

“I just feel so grateful to have been able to target the services to our community and respond to their needs in a way that has made them satisfied. I feel very honored to have been here for fifteen years.

I will be happy to be there as a patron, but sad to not be doing the work to better our services.”

The News-Press asked Ms. Gray what one piece of advice she would give to her successor, who has not yet been named.

“It would be to remember how important it is to check in with the staff and know how to do most everything the staff does so you can pitch in and so they feel that you are part of the team. It’s important to have a great team that supports each other and you need to be part of that. I work at city hall because there is no room for me at the library. So I go to the library frequently and check in with the staff.” email: kzehnder@newspress.com

Fyi

The Goleta Valley Library’s 50th anniversary celebration will take place 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the library, 500 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta. You can watch the video invitation to Saturday’s celebration in English at youtube.com/watch?v=ejYrgOc4gHw. To watch the invitation in Spanish, ee youtube.com/watch?v=R41dxPKkwY;.

Shelters seek homes for pets

Local animal shelters and their nonprofit partners are looking for homes for pets.

For more information, go to these websites:

• Animal Services-Lompoc, countyofsb.org/phd/animal/home. sbc.

• Animal Shelter Assistance Program in Goleta, asapcats.org. ASAP is kitty corner to Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter in Goleta, bunssb.org. BUNS is based at Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Companion Animal Placement

Radio For Here

Assistance, lompoccapa.org and facebook.com/capaoflompoc. CAPA works regularly with Animal Services-Lompoc.

• K-9 Placement & Assistance League, k-9pals.org. K-9 PALS works regularly with Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation, sbcanimalcare. org. (The foundation works regularly with the Santa Maria Animal Center.)

• Santa Barbara County Animal Services in Goleta: countyofsb.org/ phd/animal/home.sbc.

• Santa Barbara Humane (with campuses in Goleta and Santa Maria), sbhumane.org.

• Santa Maria Animal Center, countyofsb.org/phd/animal/home. sbc. The center is part of Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society/DAWG in Buellton, syvhumane.org.

• Shadow’s Fund (a pet sanctuary in Lompoc), shadowsfund.org.

• Volunteers for Inter-Valley Animals in Lompoc: vivashelter. org.

— Dave Mason

From Here

respect for unique indigenous cultures. She wants the selected images and their interpretation to counter the stereotypical presentation of popularized Curtis imagery, which depicts cultures as the same. In particular, she hopes to invite greater respect and understanding of the women who agreed to be photographed.

“Because of the patriarchal place Mr. Curtis was coming from,” Ms. Sheridan explained, “he would usually talk with the men, not realizing that often the women were people of power in particular cultures. He also very rarely named women, so their photographs often are just ‘wife of’ or ‘sister of.’ Although we rarely know their names, these women should be seen.”

Luke J. Swetland, president and CEO at the museum, provided an interesting backstory for the exhibit in a recent museum’s monthly newsletter:

“I’ve been repeatedly asked how the museum came to acquire the books and photogravures at the heart of this exhibition. This set of bound volumes was a rare treasure: Only about 270 sets were printed. As is so often the case, our ability to share something remarkable with you was made possible by a gift.

“The story of that gift starts in turn-of-the-century Santa Barbara. A woman named Charlotte Bowditch was living on upper Garden Street when she learned of Edward S. Curtis’s North American Indian project. She wrote a letter to him to learn more about it. The more she knew, the more interested she became.

“From about 1905 to 1915, Bowditch personally corresponded with Curtis. As a subscriber to his 20-volume epic ‘The North American Indian,’ she was one of a relatively small group of people receiving this lavishly-illustrated series of books about the Indigenous peoples of the Western United States.

“Bowditch shared these extraordinary books with her friends. One such friend was Sophie Baylor, who shared Bowditch’s interests in nature and culture. Unsurprisingly, Sophie Baylor was also a good friend of the museum. Beginning first as a member visiting the museum’s exhibits, she started volunteering here in the early 1930s. Recognizing what a special treasure the museum was for our community, she later joined the museum’s board of trustees.

“Unfortunately, Charlotte Bowditch died before Curtis completed his epic work, leaving the first 11 volumes of ‘The North American Indian’ to her friend, Sophie Baylor. She also left her collection of letters from Curtis and a few artifacts that she had purchased from Curtis over the years.

“Sophie Baylor recognized the cultural significance of The North American Indian volumes, folios, letters, and artifacts, and their value to our growing institution. She donated them to the museum on May 17, 1935.

“On March 26, 1938, another trustee of the museum, Mrs. George (Carrie) Steedman donated volume 12, which features the Hopi tribe. This portfolio’s photogravures are printed on Japanese gampi tissue, which is the rarest of the papers that Curtis used for his large format photogravures.

“Only about 25 volumes were printed on gampi tissue. Steedman purchased this volume from the Charles E. Lauriat Book Co. while visiting Boston.

“In the 1950s, Virginia Doulton approached the museum’s Library about donating a full set of ‘The North American Indian.’ The librarian, remembering Sophie Baylor’s gift, told Doulton that the library didn’t need the first 11 volumes. So Doulton gifted volumes 13–20 to our collection.

“To expand the museum’s collection to the full set, our librarians had to be patient. I hope you will have a chance to see the exhibition and agree that all three of these gifts were significant. The 70 photogravures on display are a carefully-chosen selection from about 700 large-format plates featuring dozens of cultural groups covered across 20 volumes by Curtis.

“Those dozens are a small sampling of many hundreds of indigenous groups extant across the United States. They demonstrate the diversity of indigenous culture and myriad ways of life that are deeply tied to nature.” email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

FYI