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hplandmark.com Life & Arts
the highland park landmark | March 22, 2018 | 23
‘Journey to America’
seeks modern dialogue
“ABSOLUTELY
—Kenn Wells, former lead dancer of the English National Ballet
IN THE WORLD.”
The Art Center
exhibit looks at
modern native,
immigrant culture
Margaret Tazioli
Freelance Reporter
Mary Anne Cly never
went to school and only
spoke her native Navajo
tongue, never learning
English. She lived without
electricity or running
water and liked it that way
— the way the Navajo
used to live.
The photos Howard Tatar
took when he visited
Monument Valley tell the
story of people who love
the land — and were the
first to plant roots in it
many centuries ago. The
deeply grooved faces and
twisted fingers of people
who don’t set their bones
when they break tell a
story of our country’s past
Tatar wanted to share.
The Art Center of
Highland Park’s running
exhibit, “Journey to
America: How Stories of
Immigration Shape our
Heritage and Culture,” is
the first show where Tatar
has ever displayed a portrait
he took of Navajo elder
Mary Anne Cly.
The Art Center put out
a call for Native American
artwork expressing heritage
and immigrant artwork
expressing personal
stories of immigration.
Together, the blended
exhibitions create unique
dialogue about the United
States’ heritage and future,
and portray an America
built on a collection of
Reeboks Moccs, a piece by Noelle Garcia, is part of
the exhibit that seeks to spin a modern narrative on
Native American and immigrant art. Xavier Ward/22nd
Century media
diverse journeys.
“We decided to do this
exhibit on contemporary
native American art and
then we thought, let’s do
it on immigration also,”
said Caren Helene Rudman,
the exhibit’s curator.
“It’s really immigration
that leads to migration.
And migration that leads
to assimilation or alienation.
And so, this exhibit
is held side by side,” Rudman
said. “And, what I
found in most of the work
is the stories are similar.”
The exhibit opened
March 9.
Guest juror Montserrat
Alsina was born in Venezuela
and found her way
to America on foot. Now
a multidisciplinary artist,
teacher and cultural
worker, Alsina recounted
her story as she unpacked
a bag of items from her
birthplace.
Alsina pulled cusps of
wooden beads around her
ankles and danced with a
maraca-like instrument as
she recited her poetry. She
said she performs so that,
“We can come together
with hope, with hope,
with hope.”
The show exhibited
work from more than thirty
artists.
Local Highland Park
artist Margoth Moreno’s
painting of a skull surrounded
by roots was selected
for the exhibit —
her first painting to ever
be exhibited. Moreno said
she would paint a tree and
then leave for a month before
coming back to paint
another tree. The painting
unfolded slowly just like
that — representing death
and new life all in the
same brush strokes.
“So, from the suitcases
that we filled with the
things that we brought
here when we came or
the things we took with
us as we move — they
are the objects that tell the
story of who we are as a
culture,” Rudman said.
“A furry moccasin and a
beaded stapler — it’s all a
part of this diverse American
story.”
The exhibit will run
through April 6.
“A gift
for this planet.”
—Georgian veteran journalist
Helena Apkhadze
MAR 21-25
Rosemont
Rosemont Theatre
Art That
Connects Heaven and Earth
“
I have reviewed about 4,000 shows since 1942.
None can compare to what I saw tonight.”
—Richard Connema, renowned Broadway critic
“There is a massive power in this
that can embrace the world. It brings great hope.
It is truly a touch of heaven.”
—Daniel Herman, minister of Culture of the Czech Republic
“Mesmerizing! I encourage everyone to see and
all of us to learn from.”
—Donna Karan, creator of DKNY
“The greatest of the great! It must be experienced.”
—Christine Walevska, “goddess of the cello”, watched Shen Yun 5 times
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