The Tarble Art Center shows the artwork created by Native Americans in their current exhibit.

The museum is hosting an art exhibit from the Native American tribes of the Southwest.  The art pieces mainly came from private collections, while some of the pieces were from the Art Center.

The rugs are well woven and colorful. They are hanging on the walls and range from regular mats to riding rugs, which serve as a layer between the horse and a saddle.

The pots are painted in earthy colors, and range from light browns and oranges to black.

“It’s amazing we have these exhibits,” said Jacqui Worden, who feels that it makes perfect sense for the exhibit to focus on Southwestern Native Americans.

Worden said that the Navajo and its neighbors had a strong tradition of good artwork.

Olsen said folk art is an art form that is generally crafts made at home instead of a studio. She said that the curator of the exhibit, Kit Morice, owns some of the pieces in the exhibit.

Morice is the Curator of Education at Tarble and said she has always liked Native American Art.  She said she worked with a large collection while she was a graduate student at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. During her time at SIUE, she said she gained contacts that gave the museum pieces from the Caddo and the Pueblo.

She also borrowed some Navajo weavings and Pueblo pottery from Tarble and SIUE to finish up the project.

The exhibit is part of a series of exhibits aimed at fifth graders and serves as an enrichment program for the students.

Morice said college students who helped with the exhibit are introduced to art from different cultures.  She said this helps them learn how art functions in different cultures and to help them form an appreciation of the art and the culture that inspired it.

She said she wants the fifth graders to learn the history of the culture, geography and how the art was created and the use of symbolism and design in the pottery and weavings.

The Tarble art exhibit coincides with an exhibit in the library.  “Booth Library is hosting an exhibit and program series, ‘Quanah and Cynthia Ann Parker: The History and the Legend’ this spring and I wanted to curate an exhibition of Native American art that would complement their program,” Morice said.

The exhibit lasts from March 21 through June 7 and includes pottery and rugs from American Indian tribes, mainly the Navajo of New Mexico.

Samuel Nusbaum can be reached at 581-2812 or at scnusbaum@eiu.edu.