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Peter B. Jones Art Exhibit Provides Outlet for Representation and Learning Peter B. Jones Art Exhibit Provides Outlet for Representation and Learning

Syracuse University students and faculty reflect on what this means to them.

By Drew VonScio

Peter B. Jones Exhibit
© 202 Drew VonScio

DV: DREW VONSCIO
AJBA: ANA JULIANA BORJA ARMAS
CD: CHARLOTTE DUPREE
SS: PROFESSOR SASCHA SCOTT
SMS: DR. SCOTT MANNING STEVENS

DV: INSIDE THE SYRACUSE ART MUSEUM IS 30 CASES OF HAUDENOSAUNEE ART
CREATED BY PETER B. JONES.

THE ART WAS CREATED TO REFLECT ON THE COLONIALISM THAT INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE DEALT WITH FROM EUROPEAN POWERS AS WELL AS THE UNITED STATES
AND CANADA.

ANA JULIANA BORJA ARMAS IS ONE OF FIVE STUDENT CURATORS WHO HELPED
BRING THIS PROJECT TOGETHER.
WHILE UNDERGRAD STUDENTS WORKED MORE ON THE EXHIBIT ITSELF, HER
ROLE WAS ON THE EDUCATION SIDE.

AJBA: “MY ROLE, AS BEING A DOCTORAL STUDENT IN THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, I WAS KIND OF BROUGHT ON MORE TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO BRING THE EXHIBITION TO THE BROADER COMMUNITY, SPECIFICALLY THINKING ABOUT K-12, SO HOW DO WE BRING THIS TO DIFFERENT SPACES WITHIN SYRACUSE CITY FOR YOUNGER STUDENTS.”

DV: EVEN THOUGH THE VARYING LEVELS OF STUDENTS HAD DIFFERENT
RESPONSIBILITIES, WORKING ON THE EXHIBIT CREATED A SENSE OF PRIDE TO
SEE INDIGENOUS ART IN THE MUSEUM.

CD: “IT JUST MAKES ME PROUD TO SEE INDIGENOUS ARTWORK IN THE SYRACUSE ART MUSEUM BECAUSE WE HAVE A FEW PIECES BUT IT’S NOT A LOT, AND IT’S JUST NICE TO SEE.”

DV: UNDERSTANDING AND REFLECTING ON HAUDENOSAUNEE CULTURE IS MORE THAN JUST A HISTORY LESSON.

IT’S RECGONIZING THAT PEOPLE AT THE TIME FELT THE EFFECTS OF COLONIALISM AND PEOPLE TODAY ARE STILL FEELING THOSE EFFECTS HERE IN THE CENTRAL NEW YORK REGION.
WHILE THE POTTERY MAY BE ATTRACTIVE TO THE NAKED EYE, JONES HAS A CLEAR MESSAGE FOR HIS ART WORK. HE WANTS IT TO BE HIS PEOPLE OR ABOUT HIS PEOPLE.

DR. SCOTT MANNING STEVENS SHARES HIS FAMILY’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND REMINDS US ALL THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT OCCURRED HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO.

SMS: “THEY’RE NOT MY ANCESTORS, MORE LIKE MY GRANDPARENTS, MY MOTHER AND SO, THINGS RING TRUE WHEN I LOOK AT HIS ART AND THINK ABOUT THE STORIES I’VE HEARD FROM THEM ABOUT THEIR OWN PAST…”

SMS: “THERE’S A NOTE OF TRUTH, THAT IS STRUCK VERY CLEARLY TO ME IN HIS WORK, AND I SEE OUR FAMILIES IN HIS WORK.”

DV: DESPITE THE EXHIBIT CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS ART, NON-INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
CAN LEARN FROM IT AS WELL.

PROFESSOR SASCHA SCOTT SAYS THIS EXHIBIT IS MORE THAN JUST ART.

SS: “THERE’S A COUPLE OF IMPORTANT THINGS ABUT THIS EXHIBITION. PETER JONES IS A NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN ARTIST, SO HAVING HIS WORK HERE IS A REAL HONOR. BUT, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY SITS ON THE UNSEATED LANDS OF THE ONONDAGA NATION.”

DV: JONES’ EXHIBIT PROVIDED A LARGE AMOUNT OF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND EVEN
FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, SOMETHING THAT BORJA ARMAS SAYS MAKES THINGS MORE MEMORABLE.

AJBA: “TO SEE IT KIND OF MANIFEST IN THIS ARTISTIC WAY HAS BEEN REALLY AMAZING, AND I’M REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE ART HISTORY DEPARTMENT, FOR SASCHA, FOR SCOTT, AND FOR PETER TO KIND OF PROVIDE THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR US.”

DV: THE EXHIBIT IN THE SYRACUSE ART MUSEUM MAY BE TEMPORARY, BUT THE FIGHT FOR RESPECT FROM HAUDENOSAUNEE AND OTHER INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IS ONLY GOING TO CONTINUE.

REPORTING IN SYRACUSE FOR N-C-C NEWS, I’M DREW VONSCIO.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – When the Syracuse Art Museum opened the Peter B. Jones exhibit, the goal was to showcase Jones’ art as the campus of Syracuse University sits on the grounds of the Onondaga Nation. However, the exhibit quickly became more than that.

Over the last month, the 30 cases of Haudenosaunee art created by Peter Jones have become a symbol of diversity. This has allowed Syracuse students, faculty and staff to feel a sense of pride as indigenous art is on display in the museum. The feeling resonates even more with the student curators, most of whom have Native American backgrounds.

“It just makes me proud to see indigenous artwork in the Syracuse Art Museum because we have a few pieces, but it’s not a lot, and it’s just nice to see,” said Charlotte Dupree, student curator.

For English professor Dr. Scott Manning Stevens, the art created by Jones reminds him of his origins. Stories that hit a lot closer to home than just ancestral narratives.

“They’re not my ancestors, more like my grandparents, my mother, and so things ring true when I look at his art and think about the stories I’ve heard from their about own our past,” said Stevens. “There’s a note of truth, that is struck very clearly to me in his work, and I see our families in his work.”

Education is another facet of the Peter B. Jones exhibit that may not be apparent to most visitors. The artwork allows Syracuse University to host K-12 students and enlighten them about the effects colonialism had, and still have, on indigenous people today.

“I was kind of brought on more to think about how to bring the exhibition to the broader community, specifically thinking about K-12, so how do we bring this to different spaces within Syracuse city for younger students,” said Ana Juliana Borja Armas, doctoral student curator.

Understanding this exhibit is not just a history lesson and how it effects the community makes its existence that much more worthwhile. The community can visit the exhibit from now until Dec. 15, except for Mondays and Syracuse University holidays.

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