Nespelem (art)

For other uses, see Nespelem (disambiguation).

Nespelem art was both a movement and colony focused on Native Americans, located in the Nespelem River area of Washington, home to the Colville Confederated Tribes. Established around 1937, artists were called upon to record Native American culture and the history of a group of significant individuals involved with American Indian events of the late 19th-century Northwest.

Unlike the art movement in western Washington and Oregon, which emphasized Asian genres among others, the location drew attention to the past, the future, and a dying culture. These elements combined to create an ideal setting for artists to capture memorable scenes for future generations.

The colony was founded by Worth Griffin and Clyfford Still, who created the first extensive visual record of the Nespelem people. Griffin and Still admitted 15 to 20 students at a time into the colony, of which some were professionals. They put in exhaustive hours during the week on portraits and landscapes, then sketched at Grand Coulee on weekends. Finished works went in many directions, including some bequeathed to the Washington State Historical Society.^[1]

See also

Art colony

Notes

1. ^ J. J. Creighton. "The Art Colony at Nespelem". COLUMBIA: Fall 2003; Vol. 17, No. 3. http://www.wshs.org/wshs/columbia/articles/0303-a3.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-03. ^{[dead link]}

Further reading

• Creighton, Jeff. Indian Summers: Washington State College and the Nespelem Art Colony, 1937-41. Pullman: WSU Press, 2000. ISBN 0874221919

External links

• Nespelem colony artist, Anne Harder Wyatt