Past events
Image from the 'Winter Count Ledger", Collection of the Denver Art Museum

The Douglas Society

Invites you to spend a fascinating evening with Gaylord Torrence, who will be discussing the topic:
"American Indian Art: History Recorded"

Both personal and group histories were recorded and embodied through American Indian artistic
traditions. Gaylord will discuss the pictorial and sculptural forms that were created within Native American
societies to function variously as memory aids, autobiographical narratives, historical records, and
commemorations of mythic and visionary events.

Gaylord Torrence is curator of American Indian Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO. He is a
nationally recognized authority on Native American Art and has curated numerous exhibitions throughout
the country. Gaylord is the author of "The American Indian Parfleche: A Tradition of Abstract Painting".

When:
Thursday, April 6,2006

Where:
Denver Athletic Club (DAC)
1325 Glenarm Place
Denver Colorado

The lecture will be held in Petroleum Rooms 1 & 2, 3rd Floor.

(Elevators are located in the main lobby. Wheel chair accessible.
Parking is available within the building for a fee.)

Cash Bar 6:00—6:30pm
Lecture 6:30pm

Admission
Douglas Society Members—$5.00
DAM Members—$7.00
Others—$10.00
Students Free with ID
THE AMERICAN INDIAN PARFLECHE

The parfleche--a container of folded or sewn rawhide elaborated with painted designs on the exposed
surfaces--constitutes one of the great traditions of abstract imagery created by America Indian artists. In
this book the author reveals the quality and great diversity of this art form which was widespread in the
western half of North American during the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Gaylord Torrence, professor of art and a nationally recognized scholar of Native North American art
history, retired from Drake in December 2001 and joined the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City,
Mo., on Jan. 1, 2002 as the inaugural Fred and Virginia Merrill curator of American Indian art.

Renowned for groundbreaking scholarship on the Native American parfleche, an abstract painting
tradition, and the arts of the Mesquakie tribe of Iowa, Torrence will build upon the strength of the
museum's American Indian art collection and exhibitions.

Torrence's appointment is among the few curatorial positions devoted exclusively to American Indian art at
an encyclopedic museum. In his new position, Torrence will be responsible for the study, care,
interpretation and presentation of The Nelson-Atkins' present Native American collection, as well as
organizing special exhibitions. He also will lead efforts to acquire new works of art and be involved in
educational programs. Space devoted to the permanent exhibition of American Indian art will swell from
500 to 3,000 square feet when the museum's expansion and renovation project is complete in 2006.

As professor of art since 1969 at Drake, Torrence headed the studio drawing area. He organized
coursework in American Indian art history beginning in 1975, a time few other universities offered such a
program of study.

In recent years, Torrence has been engaged as a consultant for two major collections presented by the
American Indian Art Department of Sotheby's, New York. Since 1999, he has served as principal research
consultant and contributing author for Objects in History: The Indian Collection of Lewis and Clark, a
forthcoming publication organized by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard
University.

"My years at Drake have given me the opportunity to work with many extraordinary people - both
colleagues and students," Torrence said. "It's been a rich experience. I'm going to miss the Drake
community very much. The fact that I've been offered this tremendous opportunity reflects the
encouragement and support that I've received at Drake."

Drake University Press
MAKING A PARFLECHE
by Donald Gruber
An interesting article on a class project that taught students about the parafleche and how to make one.
by Donald Gruber
Douglas Society
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