Jill Yohe, Ph.D., assistant curator of Native American art at the Minneapolis Art Institute will be presenting at noon on Thursday, November 16, 2017, in Bede Ballroom, Sargeant Student Center at the University of Minnesota Crookston. The event is free and everyone is invited to attend. Parking is recommended in Lot A and no parking permits are required.
Her presentation, Blanketing the Plains: Navajo Chief Blankets in Indian Country, will focus on blankets as a significant symbol/artifact in Native American Culture.
Yohe oversees the Minneapolis Museum of Art’s (Mia) collection of Native American art. She arrived at Mia in 2014, having previously served as assistant curator and Mellon Fellow of Native American Art at the St. Louis Art Museum. There, she installed the museum’s first three permanent galleries of Native American art and collaborated with Lakota artist Arthur Amiotte and Crow artist Wendy Red Star to bring Native understandings to works from their respective communities.
She grew up in rural Pennsylvania, received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland, and studied anthropology for her Master of Arts at the University of New Mexico. For her Ph.D. (2008), also from the University of New Mexico, she focused on Navajo textiles, learning the Navajo language and living on the vast Navajo reservation for 4.5 years. Among her initiatives at Mia is showcasing native Minnesota artists, highlighting the art of native women, and bringing native perspectives to bear on the museum’s collection.
The Kiehle Murals Committee and the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Programs will be co-sponsoring the event in recognition of Native American Heritage month, which is recognized annually in November.
