Perspectives Winter & Spring 2023

WINTER & SPRING 2023

Welcome

Dear Friends of The Westmoreland,

Heading into February, there is always excitement in the air that winter’s end is nearing and spring with all its growth and new beginnings is not far off. As you seek out ways to shake off the winter doldrums, I encourage you to check out The Westmoreland. Here at the Museum, we are very excited about the many changes underway to ensure that your visit here is always inspiring, engaging and enjoyable!

Our next special exhibition, Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945–1975, which will open in the Cantilever Gallery on Sunday, February 26, is a remarkable exhibition that features painting, sculpture and works on paper by innovative artists, who explored new ways of artistic expression and challenged stereotypical expectations of American Indian art (read more on pages 1–3). Today, more than ever, there is a need for collaboration, and Dr. Erica Nuckles, the Museum’s Director of Learning, Engagement and Partnerships has been working with many Native American partners such as the Seneca Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca, New York and the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona to provide interpretation plans and programs to our visitors as we share this important exhibition with you (read more on page 15).

Additionally, the Museum will be transformed this year as the permanent collection will undergo its first major reinstallation since our re-opening in 2015! Our Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy started this work in January with our modern and contemporary galleries (read more on pages 4–5), and next will be our iconic gallery devoted to scenes of industry and Southwestern Pennsylvania. Lastly, a reinstallation of our historical American art galleries will take place by year end. Please visit us throughout 2023 to see what's new as we explore our vaults to showcase new artworks and tell their stories.

Another exciting announcement for 2023 is the extension of the Gavin Benjamin: Break Down and Let It All Out exhibition through May 14. If you have not viewed this exhibition yet, be sure to visit the Museum to see local community members celebrated in these powerful photographic portraits by artist Gavin Benjamin.

Fred Rogers once said, “Often when you think you're at the end of something, you are at the beginning of something." At The Westmoreland, we know that we are at the beginning of something phenomenal as the Museum comes into bloom this spring with the presentation of Action/Abstraction Redefined, the start of the permanent collection galleries’ reinstallation, and the extended run of Break Down and Let It All Out. Your support, as always, remains essential for everything that we do.

I look forward to seeing you in the galleries—or at a program or online—soon!

Warmly,

Suzanne Wright Interim Director/CEO

opposite page

Alfred Young Man (Eagle Chief) (Cree), Untitled (Wall with Doorway) (detail), 1966 Oil on canvas, 61 x 54 7/8 in.

MoCNA Collection, CE-9, Image courtesy of IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM

February 26–May 28, 2023

Freedom, spontaneity, and personal expression: these are the characteristics that would define the generation of Indigenous artists at Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in the 1960s and 70s. Comprising 52 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by 32 artists, Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945–1975 is the first major traveling exhibition drawn entirely from the collection of IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, the largest and most noteworthy collection of modern and contemporary Native art in the country. The exhibition explores the innovative and experimental work of IAIA’s teachers

and students, which challenged stereotypical expectations of American Indian art by combining broader modern movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, and Hard-edge Painting with American Indian cultural heritage.

IAIA opened in the fall of 1962 as a vocational art high school for Native Americans. The Institute’s teaching philosophy emphasized “cultural difference as the basis for creative expression.” This concept, put into practice by Lloyd Henri “Kiva” New (IAIA’s first Art Director/Co-Founder) and others, emphasized design and Native traditions in aesthetics in all fields with encouragement of individual creativity in cultural expression. Under the guidance of prominent artists like New, a revolutionary shift for the progress of Indigenous art was underway. The shift allowed breathing room to delve into thrilling experimental movements where young artists could reflect on the world around them while simultaneously building upon their cultural heritage.

Thinking outside mainstream Eurocentric ideology, students and teachers at IAIA worked to reflect the evolving societal, political, and social change around Native art. In post-World War II America, many modern artists such as Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock found inspiration in mythology, Native art, or their own inner selves to break away from the representation of objects in the visual world. They felt realistic perspectives and narrative conventions were no longer appropriate artistic tools to respond to the uncertain, tension-wracked Atomic Age. Among the Abstract Expressionists were also several Native modern artists like George Morrison (Chippewa), John Hoover (Aleut),

above

Manuelita Lovato (Santo Domingo Pueblo), Untitled (Abstract Figures), around 1964. Clay, 19 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. MoCNA Collection, PROP-221, Image courtesy of IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM

right Henry “Hank” Delano Gobin (Tulalip/Snohomish) (Kwi Tlum Kadim), Northwest Design (detail), 1966. Casein, tissue paper, ink pen on paper, 18 x 22 in. MoCNA Collection, SNH-6, Image courtesy of IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM

Edna Massey (Cherokee), and Patrick Swazo Hinds (Tesuque Pueblo), who redefined the concept of abstraction by creating work that merged traditional aesthetics with art influences coming out of New York and California.

For example, Fritz Scholder, a complex and polarizing artist, embraced his controversial reputation in his art. As one-quarter Luiseño, a California Mission tribe, Scholder resisted the stereotypes placed on Native American artists. He viewed himself as a painter first. Teaching advanced painting and contemporary art history at IAIA, Scholder prioritized color and composition. Bright, strong bands of red elongate the canvas of New Mexico Number 21 (detail on cover), an abstract evocation of the landscape of a mesa in New Mexico. This work convincingly blends Native art influences with the concept of Color Field painting. It is equally informed by horizontally striped, woven Navajo blankets, and the work of painters like Kenneth Noland.

By diving into the careers of artists such as Scholder, T.C. Cannon (Kiowa/Caddo), Linda Lomahaftewa (Dawavenka) (Hopi/Choctaw), and George Morrison, the exhibition illustrates an important overlap of modern artistic movements and the cultural progress of Native American art. This work represents a unique political and artistic contribution to American modernism.

Action/Abstraction Redefined is organized by IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM.

Support for Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945–1975 is provided by Art Bridges, the Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art and The Heinz Endowments.

VIEWING THE PERMANENT COLLECTION THROUGH A NEW LENS

Curatorial Fellow Danny Volk spoke with Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy about the reinstallation of the Museum's modern and contemporary galleries.

Danny Volk (DV): What can we expect from these galleries in 2023?

Jeremiah William McCarthy (JWM): On the surface, visitors will find four constellations of people, places, things, and ideas. Sometimes these groups overlap, and sometimes they remain distinct. As the year goes on, we’ll change objects within each category. We’ve also included select loans from artists and other institutions that complement The Westmoreland’s works, and we will continue to do this.

DV: Why these four?

JWM: When I was in grammar school, these were the categories for “nouns.” Now the definition has changed to represent more classifications, but I like the thought that these galleries, like nouns, could represent the building blocks of everything.

DV: So, how does The Westmoreland's permanent collection illustrate this?

JWM: If you think about it, the twentieth century encompasses some of the most profound events represented in American visual art—whether it’s the mass movement of people from rural areas to cities, the World Wars, the Civil Rights movement and feminism, the rise of the art world, etc. Over the coming year, we can use these four categories to reflect and explore these historical moments.

DV: This is the first time that these galleries have been holistically reinstalled since the re-opening in 2015. It marks almost exactly eight years. How will the visitor experience be different this time?

JWM: I hope visitors see these galleries as a place for the start of thinking and not a repository of final thoughts. In museums, we have a tendency to treat our permanent collection galleries almost as if they are preserved in amber. We put them up, and then they stay that way for a long time, while we lavish attention on the special exhibitions, and my hope is we start to view our permanent collection in a much more exciting way . . .

DV: . . . like a laboratory.

JWM: Exactly, just like a lab. We might put artworks up, and it fails to connect completely, and that’s okay. We’ll do things differently in a few months. Or, we might take an artwork down, and only then realize it’s a fan favorite, so we’ll put it back with the next rotation, but maybe in a completely new way. We will move at the speed of learning.

Support for the reinstallation of the permanent collection galleries is made possible by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

opposite page, left to right Philip Krevoruck, Women Watching (detail), around 1940. Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in. Gift of David and Sue Werner

Sheila Pinkel, Leica Summilux-M, from the series Lens Scans, 2012, printed 2016. Inkjet print, 20 x 20 in. Gift of the artist through The Museum Project

above, top to bottom Melissa Meyer, O the Times, O the Manners (detail), 2005. Oil on canvas, 75 x 168 in. (diptych). Courtesy Melissa Meyer Studio, New York City

George Nama, Combination #1, 1963. Serigraph on paper, 18 3/4 x 13 1/2 in. Gift of the Mary Marchand Woods Memorial Fund

2022 ACQUISITION HIGHLIGHT ELIZABETH CATLETT, NAIMA

I felt my work should do something for Black women because nobody was interested in them at that time . . . [the 1940s] . . .Black working women . . . to show the beauty and strength and determination of our people. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. —Elizabeth Catlett, aged ninety-four, speaking at MoMA in 2009

Elizabeth Catlett’s Naima is the newest work to enter the collection of The Westmoreland, and my first acquisition for the Museum. The subject of this sculpture is Catlett’s granddaughter, model Naima Mora—a rare instance where Catlett worked from a known model rather than the archetypes she typically creates in her sculptures.

The “queen of the arts,” as poet Maya Angelou once called her, Catlett was born in Washington, DC, in 1915. A prodigious talent, she won a scholarship to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh but would enroll at Howard University after Carnegie refused to accept a Black woman. At Howard, Loïs Mailou Jones—painter and, later, leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance—taught her design, and art historian James Porter—who would become a lifelong friend—taught her drawing. In 1938, she moved to Iowa City to study at the University of Iowa. There, she would find a mentor in Grant Wood, painter of American Gothic fame, and develop the subject that would occupy her work for more than seven decades: ennobling and edifying abstracted and idealized images of women and community.

Catlett’s was a life of firsts. To name just a few: Her MFA in sculpture was the first such degree granted by the University of Iowa. Her first mature work and thesis project, a limestone mother and child, won first prize in sculpture at the 1941 American Negro Exposition in Chicago. And, in 1958, Catlett became the first woman professor in the National University of Mexico’s School of Fine Arts. Because of Catlett’s activist work, she was barred from returning to the United States after a period of study in Mexico. Although she renounced her American citizenship and became a Mexican citizen in 1962, Catlett continued to produce sculptures and prints that centered the history and lived experience of African Americans. In 2002, her U.S. citizenship was reinstated. Perhaps the artist’s greatest strength was to employ the language of modernism and the Western tradition—a legacy that for so long had ignored the artistic contributions of Black and women artists—to create recognizable forms that advocate for her self-identified African American and Mexican communities, while, at the same time, bespeaking a shared humanity.

At nearly one hundred years old, Catlett passed away in 2012. The range of her mastery across materials—bronze, clay, and various stones and woods—is nearly matchless. The sculpture will feature prominently in the Museum’s new installation of its permanent collection galleries. I hope you find much to enjoy!

—Jeremiah William McCarthy Chief Curator

Due to rights issues, we are not able to share this artwork digitally.

ON VIEW AT THE WESTMORELAND IN 2023

A compelling line up of featured exhibitions is planned for the Museum’s Cantilever Gallery in 2023. See below for the exhibitions that will follow Action/Abstraction Redefined to round out the year.

Block Party: Celebration and Community in American Art

June 25–September 17, 2023

Block Party: Celebration and Community in American Art takes as its point of departure the World War I innovation of the urban “block party,” and uses it as a lens to view ideas on belonging, activism, and mutual solidarity in historical and contemporary American art. Drawn largely from the Museum’s permanent collection, amplified by a handful of loans from distinguished public and private collections, the show coincides with the 250th anniversary of Westmoreland County.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania

October 15, 2023–January 14, 2024

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania is co-organized with Fallingwater, a property entrusted by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. This ambitious exhibition will offer a multimedia, immersive experience of civic, commercial, and residential projects designed for the region by Frank Lloyd Wright from the 1930s through the 50s. It examines Wright’s ideas and ideals of the future, as well as their lasting impacts on the urban, suburban, and rural landscapes.

These exhibitions are generously supported by The Heinz Endowments and The Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

Free admission to exhibitions is generously supported by:

Gavin Benjamin: Break Down and Let It All Out Extended through May 14, 2023

To give even more visitors the opportunity to experience Gavin Benjamin: Break Down and Let It All Out, the exhibition has been extended until May 14. Be sure to make it to the Museum before the new close date to see local community members taking center stage in Benjamin’s powerful photographic portraits installed in the Paneled Rooms alongside works from The Westmoreland’s permanent collection.

This exhibition is generously supported by The Fine Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.

UPCOMING EVENTS AT A GLANCE

FEBRUARY

• Sunday Fun Day: I Heart Art! Sunday, February 12 > 11am–3pm Visit thewestmoreland.org/calendar for more information on this event

• Art on Tap 2.0: Pub Trivia Friday, February 17 > 6–8pm

• Children's Saturday Studio: Inside, Outside! Saturday, February 18 > 10am–12pm

• Opening of Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945–1975 Sunday, February 26 > 10am–5pm

MARCH

• Virtual Program: The Thomas Indian SchoolNarrative Sovereignty and Healing Wednesday, March 1 > 6–8pm

• Film Screening: A Good Day to Die Saturday, March 4 > 11am–12:30pm; 1–2:30pm

• Jazz Concert Series: Kevin M. McManus and the Bone Forum Wednesday, March 8 > 7–9pm

• Pop-Up Studio: Hand-Lettered Watercolor Painting Tuesday, March 14 > 6:30–8:30pm

• Art on Tap 2.0: Shamrocks and Shenanigans Friday, March 17 > 6–8pm

• Children's Saturday Studio: Pop Goes the Piggies Saturday, March 18 > 10am–12pm

• Sunday Fun Day: Native American Stories and Art Sunday, March 19 > 11am–3pm

• Teacher Workshop: Native Pennsylvania Thursday, March 23 > 5:30–7:30pm

• Current Issues in Native America Wednesday, March 29 > 6–8pm

• Pop-Up Studio, Morning Edition: Making Monotypes Thursday, March 30 > 10am–12pm

APRIL

• Pop-Up Studio: Hand-Made Greeting Cards Tuesday, April 4 > 6:30–8:30pm

• Literary Tour: Zitkala-Ša's American Indian Stories Thursday, April 6 > 6–7:30pm

• Jazz Concert Series: The Colbys Wednesday, April 12 > 7–9pm

• Art on Tap 2.0: Garden Party Friday, April 14 > 6–8pm

• Children's Saturday Studio: Shutterbugs Photo Studio Saturday, April 15 Ages 5–9, 10–11am; Ages 10–14, 11am–12:30pm; Ages 15–17, 1–3pm

• Caffeinated and Curated Sunday, April 16 > 11am–1pm

• ArtsWalk 2023 Saturday, April 29 > 10am–3pm

MAY

• Native Peoples Celebration: American Indian Drum and Dance Performance Sunday, May 7 > 11am–3pm

• Jazz Concert Series: Max Leake Wednesday, May 10 > 7–9pm

• Art on Tap 2.0: Off to the Races Friday, May 12 > 6–8pm

• Children's Saturday Studio: Paper Puppets Saturday, May 13 > 10am–12pm

• Pop-Up Studio: Marbled Paper Tuesday, May 16 > 6:30–8:30pm

• Three Sisters Garden Day Saturday, May 20 > 1–3pm

• Bridal and Event Showcase Sunday, May 21 > 6–9pm

• Virtual In-Conversation: Action/Abstraction Redefined Wednesday, May 24 > 6–7:30pm

Did you know that 2023 is the 250th anniversary of Westmoreland County?

The Westmoreland will be celebrating all year along with other partners of Westmoreland Heritage throughout the county. Visit westmoreland250.com to learn more!

Social Gatherings

Art on Tap 2.0 Pub Trivia

Friday, February 17, 6–8pm

Do you have game? Test your skills with multiple rounds of pub trivia to win bragging rights and prizes! Also enjoy specialty charcuterie that pair perfectly with various wine and beer tastings, signature drinks, and even a cupcake to celebrate the official birthday of Westmoreland County! This event is in collaboration with Westmoreland 250.

$12 member/$15 non-member (provides one drink and cash bar after) Event is 21+. Advance registration is recommended. Sponsored by Authentic Perspectives Psychological & Consulting Services, LLC

Art on Tap 2.0 Shamrocks and Shenanigans

Friday, March 17, 6–8pm

Paint the town green at The Westmoreland’s official Saint Patrick’s Day party! Try a lucky libation or a green beer, go on a shamrock scavenger hunt, and take in some upbeat live music through the evening. Don’t forget to wear your best green garb for a great photo op!

$12 member/$15 non-member (provides one drink and cash bar after) Event is 21+. Advance registration is recommended.

Art on Tap 2.0 Garden Party

Friday, April 14, 6–8pm

April showers are sure to bring May flowers! Relish in the season with an evening celebrating spring inside and out. Kick back with picnic-inspired light bites, a mimosa bar, and a flower-themed scavenger hunt! Partake in a friendly lawn game and even plant your own flower to take home.

$12 member/$15 non-member (provides one drink and cash bar after) Event is 21+. Advance registration is recommended.

Sponsored by Milanscape

Caffeinated and Curated

Sunday, April 16, 11am–1pm

Enjoy the second edition of Caffeinated and Curated! Start the day with a spread of pastries, fruit, and light nibbles, and wake up your senses with a specialty coffee and tea bar. Then deep-dive into the collection on a new and unique tour with Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy. $20 member/$25 non-member Space is limited. Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Friday, April 14.

Art on Tap 2.0

Off to the Races

Friday, May 12, 6–8pm

Don’t hold your horses… celebrate this special derby-inspired night with us! Dress in your best fancy hat – you might even win a prize. Stroll about the gardens and indulge in a game of horseshoes while sipping a drink from our julep bar. Then, get competitive with a pony scavenger hunt—may the best horse win!

$12 member/$15 non-member (provides one drink and cash bar after) Event is 21+. Advance registration is recommended.

Jeremiah William McCarthy

Conversations

NEW!

Cantilever Conversations

Most Saturdays, 1–2pm

The docents at The Westmoreland are thrilled to offer engaging tours of the special exhibitions on view in the Cantilever Gallery on Saturdays at 1pm during each exhibition run. This spring, take a deeper dive into the works and artists featured in Action/Abstraction Redefined! No advance registration required.

FREE

Virtual Program: The Thomas Indian School - Narrative Sovereignty and Healing

Wednesday, March 1, 6–8pm

Join us for a virtual presentation by Hayden Haynes (Onöndowa’ga:’, Deer Clan), Museum Manager of the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, on the tragic history and legacy of the Thomas Indian School, Seneca-Cattaraugus Territory, one of the longest-running Indian Boarding Schools that was open from 1855-1957.

FREE

Support provided by

Film Screening: A Good Day to Die

Saturday, March 4, 11am–12:30pm; 1–2:30pm

Visit the Museum for two film screenings (11am and 1pm) of A Good Day to Die, an award-winning documentary on Dennis Banks, founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM). This film provides historical context for the exhibition Action/Abstraction Redefined

FREE

Support provided by

right

Peter B. Jones (Geh–A) (Onondaga), Mexico #1, around 1969. Glazed stoneware, 18 1/4 x 6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in. Image courtesy of IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM

Current Issues in Native America

Wednesday, March 29, 6–8pm

Miguel Sague Jr., a member of the Speakers of the Singing Winds with the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Pittsburgh, will educate participants that Indigenous communities still exist, and will present on the issues and activism in those communities today.

FREE

Support provided by

Literary Tour: Zitkala-Ša’s

American

Indian Stories

Thursday, April 6, 6–7:30pm

Meet us at the Museum to learn about writer, musician, and activist Zitkala-Ša (Red Bird, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) (Yankton Dakota Sioux) (1876-1938). The program includes a special tour of the exhibition Action/Abstraction Redefined that incorporates selected passages from American Indian Stories by Zitkala-Ša.

FREE

Support provided by

Virtual In-Conversation: Action/Abstraction Redefined

Wednesday, May 24, 6–7:30pm

Join Jeremiah William McCarthy, Chief Curator at The Westmoreland, for this virtual program as he explores the exhibition Action/ Abstraction Redefined with Manuela Well-Off-Man, Chief Curator of the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, and Peter Jones (Onondaga, Beaver Clan), a featured artist in the exhibition.

FREE

Support provided by

To register or purchase tickets for these events:

• visit thewestmoreland.org/calendar • call 888.718.4253*

*Please note that $1/ticket fee is added to phone orders for paid events only.

Community Events

Sunday Fun Day

Native American Stories and Art

Sunday, March 19, 11am–3pm

This family-friendly event features storyteller Perry Ground (Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee), who will perform two presentations of Stories from the People of the Longhouse at 11am and 1pm. There is also a drop-in hands-on art activity inspired by Action/Abstraction Redefined

Native Peoples Celebration: American Indian Drum and Dance Performance

Sunday, May 7, 11am–3pm

Meet us at the Museum for a celebration of Native Peoples! Members of the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Pittsburgh will share creative cultural expressions through music and dance. Performances ongoing from 11am-3pm.

Support provided by

FREE ArtsWalk 2023

Saturday, April 29, 10am–3pm

Join the Greensburg community for the 4th annual ArtsWalk! The Westmoreland, along with the Westmoreland Cultural Trust and Seton Hill University, will present special programming and activities throughout the day that showcase the visual and performing arts in our amazing community. At the Museum, you can explore works made by local students, including art and poetry.

FREE

FREE

Three Sisters Garden Day

Saturday, May 20, 1–3pm

Join us to learn about Haudenosaunee foodways, including the Three Sisters Garden, as you enjoy a tasting of Indigenous recipes. $10 member/$15 non-member

Support provided by Support provided by

ANOTHER INCREDIBLE SEASON OF JAZZ

Jazz Concert Series

Join us at 6pm for a special cocktail hour before the concert. Get a drink from our bar, grab a crafted concert snack, and mingle with friends before the show. All concerts run from 7–9pm. Cash bar open through intermission.

$15 member/$18 non-member

March 8: Kevin M. McManus and the Bone Forum April 12: The Colbys May 10: Max Leake

Pop-Up Studios

Pop-Up Studios give adults (ages 18 and above) the opportunity to get in touch with their inner artist. Each class explores different techniques and media. No previous art experience is needed. Refreshments and materials will be provided. Advance registration is required.

Hand-Lettered Watercolor Painting

Tuesday, March 14, 6:30–8:30pm

Join artist Amy Roadman to turn your ordinary handwriting into a beautifully designed word that speaks to you. It can serve as a daily affirmation, reflection or motivation for the day. Utilizing this word as inspiration, apply watercolor techniques to evoke emotion. Create a wash, lift, blend gradients, resist, or crystallize the paint to create an abstracted piece of art.

$20 member/$25 non-member Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Tuesday, March 7.

Morning Edition Making Monotypes

Thursday, March 30, 10am– 12pm

Start the day with art during this morning edition of Pop-up Studio led by Studio Programs Manager Michael Carsone! Coffee and ink? Why not. Learn a printmaking process you can do in your kitchen - no carving or presses required. You can draw or trace too! It’s fun, easy, and makes unique artworks!

$20 member/$25 non-member Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Thursday, March 23.

For Area Educators

Handmade Greeting Cards

Tuesday, April 4, 6:30–8:30pm

Create handmade greeting cards with artist Monique Ridet. Using papers and printed fabrics, learn about paper cutting, watercolor, and other fanciful embellishment techniques to make a special greeting for that special someone. $20 member/$25 non-member Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Tuesday, March 28.

Marbled Paper

Tuesday, May 16, 6:30–8:30pm

Create a unique set of personal stationary using two different marbled paper techniques with artist Amy Roadman. Experiment with floating chalk prints that reveal speckled, swirling spots of color. Then using a wet-on-wet technique, create unique designs on paper using line, pattern, and layering of bold color. $20 member/$25 non-member Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Tuesday, May 9.

Teacher Workshop: Native Pennsylvania

Thursday, March 23, 5:30–7:30pm

Area educators are welcome to join our education team for a crash course on 19,000 years of Native American history in Pennsylvania and how it connects to the exhibition Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art 1945-1975 Eligible teachers will receive two Act 48 credits issued by the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit.

FREE

Teacher programs supported in part by contributions from businesses eligible for tax credits through the PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.

Children’s Saturday Studios

From September to May, Children’s Saturday Studio classes are offered once a month and are taught by a professional art instructor. Each class features a fun art-related theme. Advance registration is required.

Inside, Outside!

Saturday, February 18, 10am– 12pm

Make a work of art that shows not only one outside view, but also a hidden inside view. This work is multimedia and will include the use of paper, paint, felt and more! (Please note – hot glue may be required.)

$20 member/$25 non-member Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Friday, February 10.

Pop Goes the Piggies

Saturday, March 18, 10am– 12pm

Using printing processes, create a pleasingly playful picture of Pop art PIGS with paint! Perfect!!

$20 member/$25 non-member Designed for ages 7-10. Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Friday, March 10.

To register or purchase tickets for these events:

• visit thewestmoreland.org/calendar

• call 888.718.4253*

*Please note that $1/ticket fee is added to phone orders for paid events only.

Shutterbugs Photo Studio

Saturday, April 15

Join us for a special Children's Saturday Studio open to ages 5-17. Sessions will explore the use of light boxes and studio lighting. Students will learn basic photography techniques as well as how to properly use a light box. A digital camera is recommended but not required. Cell phones and tablets can also be used.

Ages 5–9: 10–11am Students must be accompanied by a guardian throughout this session.

Ages 10-14: 11am-12:30pm

Teens 15–17: 1–3pm

$20 member/$25 non-member Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Friday, April 7. Please note that photo studios will be held only if a required minimum of participants is reached.

Paper Puppets

Saturday, May 13, 10am– 12pm

We will be using pre-planned articulated paper dolls to make a paper puppet. From animals to people to mythical monsters, choose and create your own unique simple interactive fun!

$20 member/$25 non-member

Designed for ages 7-10.

Advance registration is required. Registration deadline is Friday, May 5.

Summer Art Camps Registration Opens by March 1

It may be the middle of winter, but we’re already dreaming about making art in the warm summer sun! This year we will be offering two weeklong art camps Monday through Friday, 9am–1pm, for children ages 7–12 and teens ages 13–17, and a Shutterbugs Photography Camp over six consecutive Saturdays for children ages 5–9 and 10–14. Registration for Summer Art Camps will open by March 1st on our website: thewestmoreland.org!

Limited scholarships are available for Summer Art Camps that provide free tuition. Summer Art Camps are generously supported with funding from the Lulu A. Pool Trust and The Eugenia Gay Endsley Legacy.

BRIDAL AND EVENT SHOWCASE

SUNDAY, MAY 21, 6-9PM

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have an event at The Westmoreland? Step into a bridal show like you’ve never seen before. Visit with some of the top vendors in the region, taste delectable delights, and take in a bridal fashion show. You’ll get the full VIP experience while envisioning your wedding or event at The Westmoreland. Specialty mimosa cash bar will be available, and expect a few special surprises during the evening!

All guests present for the event will be entered into a drawing to win a free shower or ceremony rental!

TWO NEW WAYS TO STAY UP TO DATE AT THE WESTMORELAND!

Beginning with our summer programming in July 2023, The Westmoreland will be offering two ways to receive Museum news:

Perspectives Newsletter for Museum Members

As a benefit of membership, The Westmoreland’s Perspectives newsletter will include more in-depth articles and features about upcoming exhibitions, art acquisitions, conservation initiatives, and education programs. Don’t want to miss future issues? Renew or become a member today! Visit thewestmoreland.org/membership. Questions about your membership status? Please contact Membership & Development Coordinator Ginnie Leiner at gleiner@thewestmoreland.org or 724.837.1500 x127.

Calendar of Events

For our larger Museum community, the Museum will produce a Calendar of Events summary so you don’t miss the dates and times of your favorite programs!

LEAP in Action

Dr. Erica Nuckles, Director of Learning, Engagement and Partnerships (LEAP), has been traveling near and far in preparation for the exhibition Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art 1945–1975. In the process, she has also found inspiration for the development of a new interpretive plan for the permanent collection and the creation of new resources for teachers on the Museum’s Learning Management System. Locally, she rekindled the partnership between The Westmoreland and the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Pittsburgh that began with programming for the 2019 exhibition Mingled Visions: The Photographs of Edward S. Curtis and Will Wilson

Nuckles also connected with Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village and Fort Pitt Museum, leaders in the region for their work with current members of federally recognized tribes who historically occupied and used the lands of the Ohio River Valley. In August 2022 she toured Meadowcroft with members of the LEAP Team and Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy. In November 2022, Nuckles attended a day-long seminar at Fort Pitt Museum, “From Seneca to Seneca-Cayuga: Iroquoian Peoples of the Ohio Country,” with presenters from the Seneca and Seneca-Cayuga Nations in New York and Oklahoma, respectively.

In December 2022, Nuckles, along with Curatorial Fellow Danny Volk, visited the Seneca Iroquois National Museum on the Allegany Reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York, and attended the sixth annual juried Hodinöhsö:ni’ Art Show and Indigenous Winter Arts Market at Ganondagan Seneca Art & Culture Center in Victor, New York. In January 2023, Nuckles traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to visit the Heard Museum and met with their Director of Learning and Public Engagement, Jeff Goodman.

Nuckles finds these enrichment trips to be essential to her work at The Westmoreland: “Having the opportunity to visit other institutions expands not only the Museum’s network, but also opens my heart and mind to new ideas, perspectives, and possibilities, a core component of our mission as an institution, so that I can create innovative opportunities for our visitors to do the same.”

top to bottom Nuckles catches up on her reading as she prepares for the next leg of her cross-country journey. Education Program Manager, Amanda Denham, takes footage at Meadowcroft Rockshelter for the WMAA Learning Management System. Curatorial Fellow, Danny Volk, views an art exhibition at the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum.

The Westmoreland Society 35 th Annual Dinner

Celebrating an important milestone, members of the Westmoreland Society gathered on December 2, 2022, for the 35th annual Westmoreland Society Dinner. After a special welcome from The Westmoreland’s Board President Helene Conway-Long, Westmoreland Society President Karen Rich Douglas officially opened the meeting thanking fellow Westmoreland Society advisory committee members Sande Hendricks, Linda McKenna Boxx and Paul Nickoloff.

Society members also gave a very warm welcome to Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy attending his first annual dinner. For voting consideration, Jeremiah presented two drawings by Pakistani American artist Anila Quayyum Agha Flowers (Blue and Red Circle), 2017 and Be Still my Heart III, 2021. In a close vote, Flowers (Blue and Red Circle) won for accession to the Museum’s permanent collection. An important artist who is pushing the boundaries of sculpture and installation, Agha was profiled in June 2022 by the New York Times in a large feature on her work and practice. In the fall of 2024, The Westmoreland will organize and present an ambitious monographic show featuring large-scale light box installations, wall sculptures, and multi-layered drawings.

Prior to the dinner, attendees enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and cocktails in the galleries and enjoyed a very special look at an exciting new acquisition unveiled for the first time to Westmoreland Society members: Elizabeth Catlett’s Naima, one of her iconic sculpted heads that the artist cast in 1999. The acquisition of Naima was made possible by the Museum’s William W. Jamison II Art Acquisition Fund. (See page 6 for more information on Catlett and her work Naima.)

Founded in 1986, the Westmoreland Society is committed to supporting the permanent collection of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Through the incredible generosity of Society members, more than $39,000 was raised in response to the 2022 gala dinner!

To view a blog featuring photos from The Westmoreland Society 2022 Annual Dinner, visit thewestmoreland.org/blog.

Anila Quayyum Agha, Flowers (Blue and Red Circle), 2017 Cutout paper, embroidery thread, beads, and encaustic on paper, 29 1/2 x 41 1/2 in. Gift of the Westmoreland Society, 2022

JUNE 10, 2023

You’re invited to The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s annual fundraiser – an Artful Evening! Enjoy a reception and self-guided tours of wine and spirit stations throughout the permanent galleries followed by a special dinner in the Museum’s Cantilever Gallery overlooking the city at night!

For information about sponsorship, please visit thewestmoreland.org/anartfulevening or contact Paige Mastrippolito at pmastrippolito@thewestmoreland.org or 724.837.1500 x117.

Special thanks to our early sponsors including:

CREATE A LASTING LEGACY

From its very beginning, planned gifts from our Legacy Society members have helped to sustain The Westmoreland. The foresight of these generous donors, starting with the first bequest from Mary Marchand Woods in 1959, ensures that our Museum will inspire and engage visitors for generations to come.

Please consider joining The Westmoreland Legacy Society. For more information and to request a brochure, please contact Rhonda Madden, Chief Advancement Officer, at rmadden@thewestmoreland.org or 724.837.1500 x130. left

Titian Ramsay Peale, Still Life with Flowers and Insects 1879. Watercolor on paper, 9 1/2 x 8 3/8 in. Mary Marchand Woods Memorial Fund

Saint Vincent College

Hours: Wednesday–Sunday: 10am–5pm; Closed New Year's, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day Free admission to exhibitions is generously supported by

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Action/Abstraction Redefined is organized by IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM.

Support for Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1945–1975 is provided by Art Bridges, the Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art and The Heinz Endowments.

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Fritz Scholder (Mission/Luiseño), New Mexico Number 21 (detail), 1965. Oil on canvas, 71 3/8 x 55 in. MoCNA Collection, MS-27, Image courtesy of IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts above