Tell Clyfford I Said ‘Hi'

About This Event

Discover the groundbreaking new exhibition, “Tell Clyfford I Said ‘Hi’”: An Exhibition Curated by Children of the Colville Confederated Tribes, at the Clyfford Still Museum. Installed in all nine of the Museum’s galleries, the exhibition highlights the perspectives of Colville children on Still’s depictions of their home and ancestors, and the artist’s abstract works. Tell Clyfford also explores themes identified by the co-curators, including Family & Culture, Connection, Imagination, the Outside, Love, and Paint & Color. For the past three years, the Museum’s curatorial and educational staff collaborated with young children (ages three to fourteen) and Colville teachers from partner schools on every level of the exhibition, including artwork selection and arrangement, object interpretation, gallery text, and interactive spaces. Clyfford Still spent three summers with the Colville community in the mid-1930s as a young art professor at Washington State College (now Washington State University). After visiting the Reservation together in 1936, Still and his faculty supervisor co-founded a summer art program in the area the following year. Still formed relationships with the Colville Tribal people and the landscape, creating more than one hundred sketches, paintings, and photographs during the summers of 1937 and 1938. Museum staff began working with Colville Tribal representatives in 2021 to learn more about this part of the collection from their perspectives and explore partnership opportunities. Tell Clyfford is a result of Tribal leaders’ desire for the Still to collaborate with Tribal youth on an exhibition. The exhibition’s co-curators include: Nespelem School, Nespelem, Washington (three classrooms: fourth, sixth, and seventh grades) Colville Head Start, Nespelem, Washington (three classrooms, ages three to five) Gathered Hearts Montessori, Omak, Washington (one classroom, ages six to twelve) While culturally distinct and diverse, the twelve bands of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation: Chelan, Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce, Colville, Entiat, Lakes, Methow, Moses-Columbia, Nespelem, Okanogan, Palus, San Poil, and Wenatchi, share cultural practices and 1.4 million acres of land. The exhibition co-organizers include Bailey Placzek and Nicole Cromartie, and Michael Holloman, enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes and fine arts professor for Washington State University, who served as curatorial consultant for the project. Exhibition features: Museum visitors may discover expanded exhibition content in the free digital guide, available online or on the Bloomberg Connects app. The guide begins with a welcome and introduction from the Colville children curators and the exhibition’s organizers. Additional content includes videos and audio featuring the co-curators, Tribal leaders, images from visits to the Colville Reservation, behind-the-scenes development of the interactive experience, and more. In addition to the videos and audio content in the digital guide, the Museum will feature several videos on screens in the exhibition galleries. Tell Clyfford will also feature a hands-on interactive Weaving Wall experience developed by the co-curators and artist Carly Feddersen (Okanagan/Lakes; born Wenatchee, Washington, in 1982). Her weaving techniques and the colors Clyfford Still used to paint PH-796, which one co-curator likened to a woven blanket, inspired the experience. The Museum’s hands-on art studio, The Making Space, will offer new activities during Tell Clyfford, including portrait creation and photography exploration. The Still will host various programs and events during the exhibition. Visit clyffordstillmuseum.org/events for a schedule of upcoming programs.