In what ways is the investigation of paint and its use by ancient peoples of value to understanding the past? What can we learn about different cultures of the Greater Southwest by focusing on their use of paint to create images of rocks and kiva walls? What changes in painting practices and color choices occurred through time? This talk will explore these questions and more, through examining painted art and painted places of the Greater Southwest from the ancient Archaic hunter-gatherers in Baja California, Texas, and Utah through the more recent Pueblos of Arizona and New Mexico.
FEATURED SPEAKER BIO
Polly is an archaeologist and artist whose diverse works are connected to the land and the people of the Southwest. As an archaeologist, her specialty is ancient Indian rock art and Pueblo kiva murals from the late pre-Hispanic period. To better understand the people of the Southwest, her studies focus on the meaning and cosmologies expressed through the images painted and carved on rocks across time throughout the region. As an artist, her drawings and paintings find their inspiration in these same arid landforms.
Polly received her BA in art history (Mount Holyoke College), an MA degree in Anthropology (University of Colorado), and honorary doctorates from the University of Colorado and the University of New Mexico.
Polly’s many publications include: The Rock Art of New Mexico, The Rock Art of Utah, Indian Rock Art of the Southwest, Warrior, Shield, and Star, Images and Power: Rock Art and Ethics. Polly is volume editor of and contributor to, Kachinas in the Pueblo World, and New Perspectives on Pottery Mound Pueblo, and co-editor of Painting the Cosmos, as well as author of numerous journal articles and book chapters some of which have been published by Oxford University.
We hope you can join us at Hat Ranch Gallery for this unique talk and to enjoy viewing some of Schaafsma’s pen & ink drawings. Email: sara@hatranchgallery.org to reserve your space or call the Gallery (505) 424-3391
