Poster designed by RECESS!
Wendy Red Star and Beatrice Red Star Fletcher — Apsáalooke: Children of the Large-Beaked Bird
May 30, 2019 - November 2019
Apsáalooke is a vanishing language spoken by just 3,000 to 4,000 tribal members primarily living in Montana. The revival of Apsáalooke language is critical to preserving and passing along culture, heritage, and shared values while also providing future generations with a sense of identity, solidarity and empowerment.
Apsáalooke artist Wendy Red Star and her 11-year-old daughter Beatrice Red Star Fletcher have collaborated with a first and fourth grade class to present visual translations of their native language using sculptures, drawings and paintings. In this constructed world, Apsáalooke words are multidimensional, literal translations of animals, objects and concepts that illustrate an indigenous world view. Red Star’s work spotlights Apsáalooke language and visually demonstrates the importance of clear and accurate communication across cultures.
Artist Wendy Red Star works across disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American ideologies and colonialist structures. Raised on the Crow reservation in Montana, Red Star’s work is informed both by her cultural heritage and her engagement with many forms of creative expression, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance. An avid researcher of archives and historical narratives, Red Star seeks to recast her research, offering new and unexpected perspectives in work that is at once inquisitive, witty and unsettling. Intergenerational collaborative work is integral to her practice, along with creating a forum for the expression of Native women’s voices in contemporary art. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
Beatrice Red Star Fletcher is an interdisciplinary artist. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, she began her collaborative work with her father, Harrell Fletcher, when she was three years old, and her mother, Wendy Red Star, at age seven, as part of their exhibition Medicine Crow & The 1880 Crow Peace Delegation at the Portland Art Museum. She continues to collaborate with both parents. Bea has exhibited at the Denver Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Figge Art Museum, Goudi’ni Gallery at Humboldt State University, and Northcutt Steele Gallery at Montana State University Billings. She has also worked on publications and podcasts, and has spoken about her work at a variety of institutions. Currently a 6th grader at a public middle school, her favorite hobbies are playing piano and reading books.
Drawing and Sculpture Workshops Led by Wendy Red Star
Wendy Red Star worked with two classes to create work for the exhibition. First, each student in Ms. Vance’s 4th grade class got a piece of pink paper with a word written in the Crow language and translated into english describing a mammal, bird, insect, or reptile. Students drew the animal they believed to be described by the word. Through a similar process, first graders in Ms. Adams’ class sculpted clay figures to represent various animals.
The figures were inspired by the drawings made by Beatrice Red Star Fletcher.
Drawings by Ms. Vance’s 4th Grade Students
Sculptures by Ms. Adams’ 1st Grade Students
Exhibition Opening of Apsáalooke: Children of the Large-Beaked Bird
At each KSMoCA exhibition opening, the students involved in the exhibition lead group or individual tours of the exhibition. Families, classmates, school staff, and members of the public are all invited to attend and celebrate. The exhibition then remains on view at the school for the entire academic quarter. Student work hangs alongside original works by the artist.
