Summer show opens at UNCP's Native American Resource Center

The Native American Resource Center (NARC) presents its annual Summer Art Show-and-Sale. The exhibit officially opens each year at Lumbee Homecoming and lasts through Indian Heritage Week. The Summer Show-and-Sale regularly features works of art in various media.

The exhibit consists of works by some well-known Native American artists as well as some relatively newer talents. Accomplished artist Gloria Lowery has produced a new series of paintings, which provides a gentle and beautiful glimpse among the trees on campus.

Another well-known artist featured in the show is Alceon Jones, whose amazing patterns and colors dazzle the eye.

"I am particularly impressed by her mixed media works "Seven" and "Life I," said NARC Director/Curator Stan Knick. "The pure and almost inexpressible beauty of these two pieces has to be seen to be believed."

There are also works by the very talented Oxendines, Herman and Loretta.

"Mr. Herman continues to re-capture the spirit of the ancestors in his traditional pottery styles (I especially like his cattail pots and "Ancestor's Pot") and check out 'Trumpet Vine Gourd," Dr. Knick said. " Miss Loretta is carrying on the legacy of pine needle basket making, and this year offers a delightful set of coasters made in the traditional way."

Other familiar artists whose fine works grace this show include: Hatty Miller (acrylics: "Church, Nature"); Phyllis Lowery (ceramics); Mary Jacobs Bell (basketry); Hubert Sampson (woodcarving); Brenda Finnicum (textiles); Clyde Jacobs, whose paintings and drawings are amazing, especially "Old Farmstead"; James Locklear (his oil painting "Thinking About Home" is a very different and "sensitive view" of Lumbee hero Henry Berry Lowrie); James Locklear-Brooks (watercolor).

There are also some relatively newer talents displayed in this exhibit.

"Christopher Richardson's stone carvings are a pleasant new addition, as are the abstract paintings of Shawn Jacobs," Dr. Knick said. "Christopher Kennedy's paintings and drawings, which were so popular in his recent one-man show, 'Evolving Genesis,' add yet another delightful layer to this diverse and wonderful collection."

There are also two poets whose works are represented in the show. Julia Lowry Russell has two very fine short works, "I Am That Spark" and "Pleats."

Here is an excerpt: "Imprisoned in pleated time, / Again and again we recreate / The journey toward self. / War yearns for peace; Warrior rescues maiden; A knight's quest...".

Jada Locklear's fine talent is also represented by two short poems, "Checkout Line" and "Old Chief Who" Here is an excerpt: "Old chief / sits slap-kneed / on cement porch / with a toothless grin / one could mistake / for a toss-a-coin / in the hole / for five cent game / at a county fair. / Sells photographs / to parents' / whose kids / want to purchase / European-made / headdresses and / tomahawks and / pretend they are / an Indian…"

"Taken as a whole these artists illustrate the enormous talent which exists in the Native American community, and which finds expression in various media," Dr. Knick said. "As is customary for our Summer Show-and-Sale, there is something for everybody - traditional and modern, realistic and abstract, serious and humorous. Thanks to all the artists who participated this year for making it another great show!"

For more information, contact the Native American Resource Center at 910.521.6282 or nativemuseum@uncp.edu.

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