Indie Folk: New Art and Sounds from the Pacific Northwest
September 28 – December 21, 2024
Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
Jessica Jackson Hutchins (American, born 1971), Mourner, 2013, Ladder, canvas, pastels, acrylic, collage, glazed ceramic, and macramé, 79.5 x 108.25 x 58.75 inches, courtesy of the artist; Adams and Ollman, Portland; Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen.
The Pacific Northwest is home to a unique artistic ecosystem involving craft traditions, pre-industrial cultures, and Indigenous and settler histories. Like folk art, the Indie Folk: New Art and Sounds from the Pacific Northwest exhibition features handmade works that are unpretentious, and often blur the line between functionality and aesthetics. Artisanal woven baskets and tooled-wood objects mix with works that are makeshift, improvisational, and often employ salvaged materials. For the artists—patchwork quilters and abstract painters alike—a rural and working-class ethos of passed down knowledge and making do with what you have is as foundational as academics and studio technique.
The exhibition features an intergenerational array of 17 notable artists from throughout the region including Marita Dingus, Warren Dykeman, Joe Feddersen, Blair Saxon-Hill, Sky Hopinka, and Cappy Thompson. A playlist of Indie Folk music selected by Portland’s Mississippi Records, a record label and shop, will accompany the exhibition, filling the galleries with the sound of the Pacific Northwest.
This exhibition was organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU and guest curated by Melissa E. Feldman. After debuting at the WSU Schnitzer Museum in 2022, the exhibition traveled to the Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon, the Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington, and the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, California.
Digital Exhibition Publication
This exhibition is accompanied by this digital publication that provides a deeper look into the exhibition, the artists and their work, and is written by exhibition curator, Melissa E. Feldman with a forward by Ryan Hardesty, Executive Director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU.
Exhibition Related Events
Lecture with Exhibition Curator Melissa E. Feldman
September 28, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
Paulus Lecture Hall, Willamette University College of Law
245 Winter St. SE, Salem, OR 97301
Free and open to the public
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Members/VIP Opening Reception
September 28, 2024
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Members and invited guests only
New Members are welcome to join at the event or online
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Tuesday Gallery Talk
October 1, 2024 at 12:30 p.m.
Guided by Exhibition Curator Melissa E. Feldman
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Free and open to the public
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Tuesday Gallery Talk
November 5, 2024 at 12:30 p.m.
Docent Guided
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Free and open to the public
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Tuesday Gallery Talk
December 3, 2024 at 12:30 p.m.
Docent Guided
Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Free and open to the public
Financial Support
Indie Folk: New Art and Sounds from the Pacific Northwest was organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU with original funding for this exhibition provided by the Samuel H. and Patricia W. Smith Endowment, the Mildred S. Bissinger Endowment, Patrick and Elizabeth Siler, Nancy Spitzer, and members of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU. Additional funding has been provided by the HFMA Exhibition Fund and the Maribeth Collins Art Exhibition Fund; by advertising support from The Oregonian/Here is Oregon; and by general operating support grants from the City of Salem's Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
