Exhibition making is a key component of what we do at Bard Graduate Center, New York, particularly as a mode of storytelling and as a way of knowing. As our lives have increasingly moved online, museums and galleries have adapted to different forms of expression in the digital realm, offering new pathways for discovery, exploration, and creativity. For a curator, this shift has provided enormous opportunities and worthwhile challenges; if what we strive to do for our visitors is to shape an experience, create a space for contemplation, and inspire new questions, then virtual “space” is yet another medium for us to think with and through.
Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest is the first exhibition to showcase the American Museum of Natural History’s collection of Indigenous textiles from the greater American Southwest. It takes many voices to tell this story, and I respectfully acknowledge the people who have helped to bring this project to life over the years. Collaborations with Indigenous artists, makers, scholars, teachers, and thinkers have informed my methodologies and animated the exhibition in important ways throughout its development and transformation. In particular, I recognize my exhibition collaborators and the project’s cultural consultants: Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas. I thank all of the contributing artists whose work we are honored to feature online and in the gallery: Marie Begay and her family; Darby Raymond-Overstreet; Kevin Aspaas; Melissa Cody; Geanita John; Isabel Gonzalez; and Rapheal Begay, who also participated as contributing photographer on the Navajo Nation 360 field documentation team, which created immersive media content for the exhibition. I am grateful to my colleagues at Bard Graduate Center and the American Museum of Natural History for their unwavering support of this project and its ever-expanding scope and vision. I also acknowledge the invaluable contributions of my students from two Bard Graduate Center seminars in spring 2020 and spring 2021: Marion Cox, Natalie De Quarto, Juliana Fagua-Arias, Emily Hayflick, Tova Kadish, Rachael Schwabe, Danielle Weindling, Caleb Weintraub-Weissman, Ashley E. Williams, Alice Winkler, and Jessica Young. They have reminded me that teaching can be one of the most generative aspects of curatorial thinking and practice.
At Bard Graduate Center, I extend sincere thanks to Susan Weber, director and founder, and Iris Horowitz Professor in the History of the Decorative Arts; Peter N. Miller, dean and professor; Aaron Glass, associate professor (and my PhD advisor); Ivan Gaskell, professor; Katherine Atkins, managing editor; Keith Condon, director of admissions and student affairs; Ian Sullivan, exhibition designer; Daniel Lee, director of publishing; Laura Minsky, associate director of research programs; Eric Edler, exhibitions registrar; Amy Estes, director of marketing and communications; Julie Fuller, digital humanities educational technologist; Helen Polson, assistant professor of practice in writing; Laura Grey, art director; Jocelyn Lau, designer; Benjamin Krevolin, chief advancement officer; Ruth Epstein, manager of institutional giving and development; and Andrew Kircher, director of public humanities and engagement. This website was beautifully designed and produced by CHIPS, and the textual content was thoughtfully edited by Eleanor Hughes. In particular, I owe special thanks to Nina Stritzler-Levine, professor of curatorial practice and director of Focus Project exhibitions as well as facilitator of many curatorial dreams; and to Jesse Merandy, director of digital humanities/exhibitions and a key member of our 360 field documentation team, whose patience, persistence, and guidance as thought partner and creative force have kept us moving forward.
At the American Museum of Natural History, I am especially grateful for the expertise and ongoing support of Peter M. Whiteley, curator of North American ethnology; Laurel Kendall, curator of Asian, African, and Pacific ethnology; Mary Lou Murillo, senior museum specialist, textiles; Kristen Mable, archivist and registrar for accessions and loans; Samantha Alderson, assistant director, science conservation; Gabrielle Tieu, conservator, science conservation; and Barry Landua, systems manager/manager of digital imaging.
Additionally, I would like to thank the following private lenders, project collaborators, and consultants for their dedication, generosity, and encouragement: H. Jackson Clark II, owner of Toh-Atin Gallery, who has believed in this project as much as I do; Jeanne Brako, curatorial consultant and conservator for the exhibition; Jack Townes, conservation preparator; John McCulloch, owner of Teec Nos Pos Trading Post, who graciously donated the Navajo dye chart featured in the Gallery exhibition; Laurie D. Webster, independent researcher; Howard and Judy Rowe; Sue Bury; and Alexandra Barlow, assistant conservator, textile conservation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The media components accompanying this project would not have been possible without the extraordinary 360 field documentation team, which, in addition to the individuals already mentioned, includes Eugenia Kisin, assistant professor, New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study; Byron Flesher, photographer; and Lillia McEnaney, assistant curator at Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, and was supported by the Navajo Nation TV & Film Office, Division of Human Resources. I also appreciate the generous support provided by NYU Gallatin WetLab.
Generous support for Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest has been provided by Art Bridges, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from donors to Bard Graduate Center.
Finally, this project is dedicated to the memory of Ira Stuart Jacknis, a dear friend, colleague, mentor, and contributor to this project. In emails exchanged in September 2021, shortly before he passed away, we discussed exhibition making and the time and investment that it requires. He offered these words of advice:
Perhaps the first principle is that a curator never gets to do exactly what she wants; there are always practical compromises, due to issues of budget, timing, condition, etc. In fact, one of the appeals of exhibit curation is working within the limitations of what you are given. It is a question of taking what you want to do ideally and then manipulating them until you get as much as possible. In this regard, I am always reminded of [Igor] Stravinsky’s comment, “If everything is permitted, then nothing is permitted.” So he never composed anything until he was told how many and which instruments he was writing for, and how long the piece would be. That then stimulated his creativity.
This project could not have been what it is without the support, guidance, and encouragement that Ira offered at every step. While I regret that he will not see it in its final form, I hope this exhibition will serve as a conduit to carry his memory forward and honor the contributions that he has made to the field of museum anthropology; to my own intellectual trajectory as a scholar, curator, and teacher; and to the person behind the work.