March 14, 2019 - May 5, 2019
Connecting the Past to the Future
An exhibit of American Indian art by students from St. Labre Catholic Academy in Ashland, Montana, represents the first time The Brinton and St. Labre have collaborated on an American Indian student art show. “Connecting the Past to the Future” features works in the mediums of drawing, watercolor, oil, photography, beading, textiles and mixed media created by St. Labre art students. This exhibit opens in the Jacomien Mars Reception Gallery on March 15th. A reception to honor the students takes place on Sunday, April 7 from 2 pm to 4 pm.
“Connecting the Past to the Future” places an emphasis on relating Native American traditions to today, keeping the past alive through art and culture. Philippe Franquelin of the St. Labre Beadwork Institute says, “Native American art is a combination of superb artistic talent with profound knowledge concerning historical tribal understanding and tradition point of view. Families have expressed and transmitted their beliefs and values through oral traditions and art for many generations. Today, young St. Labre artists continue to create innovative pieces using some trade goods similar to those of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They realize that beadwork, for example, is a physical manifestation of creation, and that’s the beauty of it all.”
St. Labre Indian Catholic Academy is located in Southeastern Montana. There are approximately 390 enrolled students, with the majority from the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Tribes of Montana. Students study Native American Drumming, Crow and Northern Cheyenne Language, Native Art, Beadwork, and Crow and Northern Cheyenne Tribal Government as well as engage in a rigorous college and career readiness curriculum. Approximately 87% of graduates from the Class of 2017 entered college. St. Labre was established in 1883 and continues today to not only educate but to keep the miracle alive.
