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Upcoming Exhibitions

Playhouse Gallery – Ho-Chunk Art: Sharing our Sacred Voice through our Art

Curated by Melanie Tallmadge Sainz

FRI, NOV 1, 2019 – SUN, JAN 5, 2020

Join us for the Ho Chunk Art Playhouse Gallery Reception FRI, NOV 1 from 5 PM – 8 PM.

The original peoples of the Madison area are the Ho-Chunk. In English Ho-Chunk translates to People of the Sacred Voice. Despite the arduous times faced by the Ho-Chunk, their culture and creativity has endured. While there is no word for art in the Ho-Chunk language, there are words that describe beauty and goodness. These qualities will fill the space of the Playhouse Gallery. Contemporary mixed media art will be juxtaposed with traditional Ho-Chunk art forms that blend natural materials obtained through local foraging and harvest and paired with commercial art products that reflect our adaptive lifeways.

Fourteen Ho-Chunk artists from Wisconsin and beyond will provide a broad perspective of the values and traditions of their heritage. In respect of tribal elders and creative trailblazers, the art of long-time Madison residents Truman Lowe (1944 – 2019) and Harry Whitehorse (1927 – 2017) will highlight this exhibit. The contributions made by these elders have inspired countless contemporary Ho-Chunk artists to continue our legacy of preserving our culture through the arts.

Featured artists include:

Levi Blackdeer – Simone Brown – Alvena Foss – George Greendeer – Sidney Hall, Jr. – Tom Jones – Rita Kingswan – Josie Lee- Kelly Logan – Truman Lowe – Henry Payer – Christopher Sweet – Melanie Tallmadge Sainz – Harry Whitehorse

Overture Playhouse Gallery is sponsored by Norman Berven & Barbara Mittelstaedt Berven, The Arts Access Fund, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.