PAWHUSKA, OK – The Osage Nation Museum (ONM) will unveil an art installation by Alex Ponca Stock titled “Renaissancing the Osage” on Nov. 2, 2023. Visitors can meet the artist during the opening reception from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at the museum. Ponca Stock will unveil her work at 6:00pm followed by a talk about the inspiration for the installation, which measures 9 ft. high by 23 ft. long. The installation will be on view from Nov. 2 – Dec. 31, 2023.
In Renaissancing the Osage, Ponca Stock utilizes iconic Renaissance imagery to direct the viewer to ideas of Osage theology. The work is a celebration of the movement of life known through the Osage belief system and the coming together of generations. As the artist relates, “We don’t exist with out each other. Today’s culture celebrates youth, but for us it is a privilege to be around elders. I have been lucky in my life that in Osage culture when you go to an event or party that you get to see all of the different people together. We celebrate each other and are real with each other and value one another.”
The unveiling of Ponca Stock’s work is part of a tradition at the Osage Nation Museum. Throughout its history, many renowned Osage artists have unveiled new works at the museum. Tribal members may remember the distinguished portrait of Chief Bacon Rind that Franklin Brave unveiled in 1951 to an appreciative audience of relatives and community members. “The ONM is the communal space where we gather, create and exchange ideas about our arts and culture and who we are as a people,” said Marla Redcorn-Miller, Museum Director.
Ponca Stock is a painter and beadworker from the Gray Horse District of the Osage Nation. Her clan is the Ponca Washtage or Gentle Leaders. Stock is the third generation in her family to graduate from the Kansas City Art Institute and pursue the life of an artist. Ponca Stock’s work is an investigation of community, culture, experience and perception.
The creation of Renaissancing the Osage was made possible by an Osage Nation Foundation Charitable Grant.
