"Native Arts of the World...At Home in Colorado
The Douglas Society Collects"
North American, African and Oceanic art from the collections of the members of the Douglas Society
The Douglas Society has been working with Andra Archer (a Douglas Society member) and the Archer Concept Group to prepare
an exhibition of objects from the native people of North America, Africa and Oceania from the collections of the members of the
Douglas Society. This exhibition will be part of the ongoing "Art in Public Places" program at Republic Plaza in downtown Denver.
The exhibition, opening on August 25th and scheduled to run approximately 60 days, is timed to just precede the opening of the
Hamilton building of the Denver Art Museum. The opening reception was August 25th, we had a great turn out.
The exhibition ran from August 25th - November 9th, 2006
370 17th St (Republic Plaza, downtown Denver)
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“Native Arts of the World… At Home in Colorado - The Douglas Society Collects”
North American, African and Oceanic art from the collections of the members of the Douglas Society
“Each object has many stories to tell and may lead us to imagine or recall ideas, places, moments and human realities from the
places and cultures from which they come. Whatever information, impressions and agendas that any of us may bring to a
consideration of the works on display, one factor that remains primary is the flutter of one's heart -- or other such physical response
-- in the presence of a particular object. We hope that people will stand back and savor the pure aesthetic rapture that can be
gained from a wordless appreciation inspired by a particular object, well apart and far away from the complex world from which it has
arisen and through which it has traveled to where it is today.”
– Lee Rubinstein
When we view traditional arts from North American, African and Oceanic cultures, we often perceive the works as distant objects.
Accessible in museum collections, in media images and in books, the works are visible to the eye but mere inches away still appear
removed from the personal experience or daily reality of those who encounter them. Challenging this divide between the local
viewer and these vital arts from near and far, “Native Arts of the World…At Home in Colorado” showcases objects from private
collections here in Colorado and surrounding areas. In presenting these locally housed works of art as elements of the
environments in which we live, this exhibition aims to provide a new perspective on how these works may enter and become a part of
our local life and environment.
This exhibition celebrates the passion for collecting that resides in the membership of the Douglas Society. The focus of the
exhibition wasn't to display the finest quality objects of each of their type, the intention was to display objects from passionate
collectors who collected the objects for the qualities they saw in the objects, and to share them with others. This exhibition also
celebrates the beauty, creativity and diversity of the arts of these cultures through a necessarily limited selection of works currently
residing these local collections. While some pieces in the exhibition are objects that served either utilitarian or ritual purposes in the
lives of the peoples who created them, others were made specifically as “art for art’s sake” and represent continuities in the
production of “traditional” forms, new expressions which integrate new media and evolving realities. The “traditional” persists as the
insistence of meaningful images and forms that transcend time and place, images and forms that refer to human realities in the
cultures from which they come even as the lives of those within them – and all of our lives -- continue to evolve. As lives change, so
change expressions of those lives.
The considerable, though not exhaustive, range of traditions displayed here shows the ability of visual forms in transcending cultural
boundaries and historical change. There is both accessibility and eternality represented here, elements that serve as testaments to
the ability of visual media – traditional and contemporary – to bridge worlds near and far across time and geography as well as
through technological development and historical, environmental and religious change.
It is the hope of the Society that this exhibition will provide an opportunity and a desire for greater recognition of -- and respect for --
both the forms and images presented and the traditions represented here as well. Too, it is our hope that such an encounter will
illuminate and facilitate the revelation that as we look closer and then step away, we find ourselves still closer than before -- each
taking with us (finding within ourselves) links to the images, forms, traditions, cultures and realities that resonate between the
objects and ourselves. That which may have seemed distant at first…will thus have become more deeply rooted in its new
community – our community -- and more truly “…At Home in Colorado.”
CLICK HERE to download the Exhibition Guide that gives some information on the objects on display in the exhibition.
CLICK HERE to go to the main page of the VIRTUAL TOUR of the exhibition.
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REPUBLIC PLAZA - ART IN PUBLIC PLACES PROGRAM
Brookfield Properties is pleased to present an ongoing Art in Public Places Program at Republic Plaza, which began in September of
1995. The program features major fine art exhibitions of outstanding Colorado and regional artists, as well as national and
international artists, representing all media and diverse artistic styles.
Thirty-three major exhibits have been presented, highlights being: ten major Corporate Collections exhibits, (1997-2006), presented
in conjunction with Arts for Colorado and the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA), COLORADO EXCELLENCE IN THE
ARTS, Colorado Council on the Arts 2002 Fellowship Recipients, Works on Paper, a Riverhouse Retrospective, a project of the
Steamboat Springs Arts Council (1999), Reflections of Change, presented by the National Press Photographers Association (1997),
Colorado Contempo '97, presented by Colorado Lawyers for the Arts, and On My Own Time, presented by CBCA (1998). Other
shows include: The Art of Theatre (2001), The Dog & Pony Show (2001), Western Visions Revisited (2000), BOTANICA
Spectaculum (2000), Black & White, perspectives in contrast (1999), The Art of Women (1996), "Alive with Spirit, Contemporary
Australian Aboriginal & Native American Indian Art," and, "pARTners, Couples Making Art "(2005).
Republic Plaza is located at 370 Seventeenth Street along the 16th Street Mall, in Downtown Denver, and is the largest premier
office tower in Colorado. Three to four exhibits a year rotate through the dramatic two-level Lobby and run from eight to nine weeks.
The exhibit space encompasses more than 360 running feet, with fine art work hung from a custom designed hanging system from
30-foot ceilings, against marble and granite walls. Custom pedestals with secured Plexiglas tops and platforms are also a part of the
exhibit system, allowing for the presentation of diverse 3-dimensional work.
To date, this is the most ambitious Art in Public Places Program ever undertaken in the greater Denver metropolitan area, in the
scope of the exhibits presented, the amount of space utilized and number of people who view the exhibits. Over 6.000 people per
day pass through the building's two-level lobby. The program is sponsored by Brookfield Properties, owner and manager of
Republic Plaza, curated by Andra Archer and Rand Smith and produced by the Archer Concept Group.
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