Permanent Collection

Welcome back team. Apologies for a skipped week. I had several people reach out and let me know that their Friday was terrible without a newsletter in their inbox. Rest assured, I will never do it again.

February Ins and Outs

You only have 8 more days to implement these ins and drop these outs so, time to get on it.

ins

• music from Belinda Carlisle
• foreign language movies
• NYT Crossplay
• recommended doses of ibuprofen

outs

• music from The Go Go's
• oversleeping
• interviews
• uncooperative psoas muscles

This Land is Their Land

I've started my spring semester of classes which includes a class about childhood development, one about integrating the arts into teaching, another about special education, and one more that's a grad level archaeology class. I was real nervous to start this one as I'm the only person in it who is not doing am archaeology/history thesis, but so far it's actually been very good.

The class is about North American Indigenous peoples and colonialism and this past week we discussed contemporary Indigenous art and music and reclaiming Native identity through the arts. In particular, we looked at the paintings of Kent Monkman - a member of ocêkwi sîpiy (Fisher River Cree Nation) in Treaty 5 Territory (Manitoba, Ontario, Canada) and a visual artist.

Monkman's work centers his Indigenous identity - in his own words:

"... I explore themes of colonization, sexuality, loss, and resilience—the complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences—across painting, film/video, performance, and installation."

For the purposes of the class last week, we looked at a few paintings that he modeled directly off of 18/19th century painters who were making works about the American West. There's a very interesting video about how he runs his studio and how he utilizes assistants to help him create his enormous pieces. We compared and contrasted for like a full 90 minutes about these. I'll spare you all the details and let you draw your own conclusions.

In the early 2000s, he developed his genderfluid alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, and most of his current work features this persona interrupting colonial scenes and complicating the visual narrative on gender, sexuality, and representation. I find the paintings that center Miss Chief some of the most striking in his entire body of work. Many of the pieces that have this character as the focal point hit at an intersection of being poignant, jarring, and cheeky in a way that I think is very distinct and potent. Here are some standouts:

If you're feeling inspired, Monkman's work is permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Montreal Museum for Fine Arts, the Denver Art Museum, the Gallery of Ontario, and many other museums and galleries around the world.

See Ya!

recs for your humble consideration

a song i'm loving:

• Dancing on the Wall - MUNA

a movie i watched:

• The Testament of Ann Lee (2025). This was phenomenal. There wasn't necessarily a real arch to the story, it was just kind of a beautifully stylized telling of Ann Lee's life, but it really worked for me. The arrangements of the Shaker songs were literally entrancing. I loved however they were able to weave in the music so I didn't even really realize we were starting or ending a piece. The choreography and cinematography of the dance sequences were outstanding. I was reading how the choreographer, Celia Rowlson-Hall, grew up Christian Science and how being brought up in an intense Christian sect informed the movement for the movie. Also, liked the sequence where they showed off all the Shaker interior design and furniture. Loved looking at some expertly crafted baskets and built-in dresser drawers. My one critique is that there was no "Simple Gifts" needle drop.

a book i'm reading:

• Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

Until Next Time!