Salem Art Museum to Feature Native American Painter James Lavadour (VIDEO)

(SALEM, Ore.) - An exhibition of work by James Lavadour, a Native American painter and printmaker known for his exploration of landscape as both inspiration and subject, will be on display February 2nd through March 30th at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.

James Lavadour: The Properties of Paint, organized by anthropology Professor Rebecca Dobkins, faculty curator of Native American art at the museum, examines the conceptual layers underlying Lavadour’s work of the past eight years. Since 2000, Lavadour has focused intensely on the properties of paint, creating works he describes as the intersections between his better-known landscapes and his lesser-known architectural structures.

The exhibition includes 12 works drawn from regional and national collections and will be accompanied by a full-color brochure. Once the exhibition closes in Salem, it will be displayed at the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute near Pendleton, Oregon, from April 10th through June 10th, and the Schneider Museum of Art at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, from July 10th through September 13th.

A free forum and symposium are planned in Salem. The forum, "Art/Culture/Homeland: Voices from the Umatilla Reservation," is February 1st from 4:00 to 6:00 PM in Hudson Hall at Willamette and is part of the Indian Country Conversations series.

It will introduce the Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeastern Oregon, which is the home and inspiration for Lavadour, and address the tribes’ philosophy and strategies for sustainable community development.

Participants include Lavadour, founder of the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts on the reservation; Roberta “Bobbie” Conner, director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute; Antone Minthorn, chairman of the board of trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR); and Donald Sampson, executive director of CTUIR. An opening reception at the museum will follow the forum.

The free symposium, "The Properties of Paint," is March 13th from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the museum.

The event will bring artists and scientists together to discuss the material and philosophical properties of paint and the interconnections between art, geology, the environment, physics and human creativity. Participants include Lavadour and Willamette faculty members.

James Lavadour: The Properties of Paint is supported by an endowment gift from The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through the Spirit Mountain Community Fund. Additional support was provided by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University.

Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The galleries are closed Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855 or visit willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

Watch this video display of the individual panels of James Lavadour's "Blanket" 2005 and "Cache" 2007, set to the music of "Heavens and the Earth" by Ryo Sakai. Produced by Tim King, video courtesy of Google Video.