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Sites of belonging and renewal: architectural themes in Native American art, 1904–1945

URL to cite or link to: http://hdl.handle.net/1802/33604

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PDF of dissertation
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Program in Visual and Cultural Studies, 2017.
In this dissertation, I examine some of the ways Native American artists represented the built environment in the first half of the twentieth century. I focus on the coincidence of two trends: long-running changes in North American building styles and the early-twentieth century development of fine art paradigms for viewing indigenous material culture. Scholarship tends to treat Native American art and architecture separately. This separation emphasizes-in turns implicitly and explicitly-the loss of so-called traditional indigenous structures. If Native architectural styles are lost, then pictures of buildings would seemingly flatten houses and empty them of their associations with indigenous landscapes and memories. Many scholars may conceive of Native architecture as being lost, though twentieth-century artists have attended to a plurality of Native building styles and spatial epistemologies. Here, I examine the representation of buildings through case studies, art historical narratives, and comparative analyses. Chapters are divided by media: sculptural house models, drawings and paintings, the built environment, and photographs. By looking at the depiction of buildings, I argue that Native architectural styles have remained vital, if transformed, in the work of Native American artists through the twentieth century.
Contributor(s):
Alexander Brier Marr - Author

Janet Catherine Berlo - Thesis Advisor

Primary Item Type:
Thesis
Identifiers:
Local Call No. AS38.64
LCSH Indian architecture--North America.
LCSH Indian art--North America.
LCSH Material culture in art.
Language:
English
Subject Keywords:
Agency; Dwellings; Material culture; Native American art; Twentieth century; Visual culture
Sponsor - Description:
American Philosophical Society - Phillips Fund for Native American Research grant
Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies, University of Rochester - Research travel grant
Smithsonian Institution - Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology support
First presented to the public:
12/31/2019
Originally created:
2017
Date will be made available to public:
2019-12-31   
Original Publication Date:
2017
Previously Published By:
University of Rochester
Place Of Publication:
Rochester, N.Y.
Citation:
Extents:
Number of Pages - xvi, 284 pages
License Grantor / Date Granted:
Marcy Strong / 2018-04-17 13:43:25.482 ( View License )
Date Deposited
2018-04-17 13:43:25.482
Submitter:
Marcy Strong

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Sites of belonging and renewal: architectural themes in Native American art, 1904–19451 2018-04-17 13:43:25.482