St. Augustine Indian Mission exhibit to travel

 (March 16, 2007) – The exhibition of St. Augustine Indian Mission children’s portraits and student artwork will conclude on March 28 to become a traveling exhibit.

 The exhibition comprises two parts: “A Timely Encounter: Portraits of St. Augustine Indian Mission Students,” by Fr. Don Doll, S.J.; and “Imprints,” more than 100 photographs and mixed-media artwork created by children of St. Augustine on the Winnebago Reservation in Northeast Nebraska.

    Fr. Doll’s 20-by-30-inch portraits celebrate students educated at the Mission founded by St. Katharine Drexel in 1909. He shot the portraits at St. Augustine for the 2007 edition of the Mission’s award-winning calendar. The luminous images inspired “A Timely Encounter: Children of St. Augustine Mission” on exhibition in the Center’s gallery. The portraits will travel to venues in Kansas and Nebraska this spring and summer.

  “Imprints” was conceived as the Center’s formal encounter with historic St. Augustine Indian Mission where more than 100 students of varied faiths and heritages are taught traditional language and culture as part of a solid core of academic basics. “Imprints” is displayed in the Center’s atrium.

  Under the direction of artist and St. Augustine Board member Anne Steinhoff, of Omaha, Neb., kindergarten through eighth grade students worked with their St. Augustine teachers to create art aimed at imparting vivid

impressions of their lives and cultures.

Sixteen portraits by Fr. Don Doll, S.J., comprise “A Timely Encounter” which will run through March 28. (Don Doll, S.J., photo)

 Students were given cradleboard tile and varied objects, including beads, feathers, shells and jingles, to create mixed-media pieces. One-use cameras gave the young artists an additional medium for creating “Imprints.”

  “This wonderful exhibition is the result of institutions working together to illuminate the rich heritage and promise of the children of St. Augustine,” says Fr. Dave Korth, Director of St. Augustine Indian Mission. “For the greater community, this is an opportunity to share in the rich diversity and history of our area. It’s an opportunity to encounter these beautiful children.”  

  G.R. Lindblade & Co. of Sioux City designed the exhibition. “Imprints” includes a videotaped dimension shot by Lindblade at St. Augustine. The video shows students as they work on art projects in their classrooms, as they gather at St. Augustine Indian Mission Church and as they participate in an outdoor blessing of buffalo that live near the Mission.

  Students’ quotes are superimposed on the video as another layer of the meaning. “My favorite thing about St. Augustine is that people are nice here. I’m Winnebago. I’m in the Thunder Clan,” says Helena. Emily explains that her brother is a role model to her. “His name is Wakaja. In English that means Blue Thunder. I drew a picture of Blue Thunder. I love my brother.” Family also inspired Divon when he created his “Imprint”: “My favorite thing to draw is a snake because I’m in the Snake Clan.”

  The two-part exhibition is presented by the Center in cooperation with St. Augustine, Fr. Doll’s Magis Productions, and Creighton University’s Native American Studies Program.  “A Timely Encounter” is the second exhibition of Don Doll, S.J., photographs at the Center. His “Vision Quest: Men, Women and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation” ran from May 14 through Sept. 4 and was seen by more than 21,000 visitors. Fr. Doll has received the Kodak Crystal Eagle Award for Impact in Photojournalism in recognition of his work with Native people. He also has received the Nikon “World Understanding through Photography” award. He was named the 2006 Nebraska Artist of the Year by the Nebraska Arts Council.

  The Center established a partnership with Creighton’s Native American Studies program in 2005 to further the Center’s post-Bicentennial Native cultures focus and to promote dialogue, harmony and understanding among all people in the region.

  The Center, located on Sioux City’s Missouri Riverfront, exit 149 off I-29, is open 9 a.m .to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday; closed Mondays. Admission, exhibits and programs are free and open to all people. For more information about the Center, contact Marcia Poole, director, 712-224-5242 or mpoole@siouxcitylcic.com.

  St. Augustine Indian Mission is located off Highway 77 in Winnebago, Neb. For more information about the Mission, call Fr. Dave Korth, Director, 402-878-2402, or log on to www.staugustinemission.com.

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