Once again, the dynamic Native American portraits of famed photographer Edward Curtis will be on display at the Garrett Museum of Art, this time in an inaugural exhibit of his work.
The show, Buried Treasure: Edward Curtis—Unpublished Works, opens this Friday.
Curtis was known as a champion of his time, advocating for all Native American and Alaska Natives, documenting history through words and pictures.
Each photograph in the collection provides new insight into tribal-specific clothing and adornments, bead and quillwork patterns, silversmithing styles, pottery and basketry, hairstyles, living quarters, social ceremonies, and many other culturally important details.
Here, WBOI’s Julia Meek discusses the significance of the collection with museum director, Jim Gabbard and Curtis’s ongoing role as defender of Indigenous dignity and honor.
Event Information:
Buried Treasure: Edward Curtis—Unpublished Works at the Garrett Museum of Art
Opening Reception: Friday, June 20
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Open to the public, all ages welcome.
Admission is $10, children under 5 are FREE.
The Exhibit runs from Friday, June 20 through September 7.
Find more information at the Garrett Museum of Art website.
Below is a transcript of our conversation:
Julia Meek: Jim Gabbard, welcome.
Jim Gabbard: Hello.
Julia Meek: Now you introduced our world to the Edward S. Curtis collection back in 2023. Very briefly, why is the work of this fierce advocate of Native American people and their culture so vital and relevant today?
Jim Gabbard: I think it's timeless, and I also think it brings us a part of our history that sometimes is forgotten.
Julia Meek: And in this fast-paced world, it's easy to forget.
Jim Gabbard: It's easy to forget, and it reminds us of a different time in American history.
Julia Meek: Curtis's work is riveting, and the sheer scope and numbers of his pieces, sounds pretty incredible. You've worked with these up close and personal Jim, can you describe the impact of his work from such a close perspective?
Jim Gabbard: Well, there's several parts of it, and you mentioned a little bit of it. The staggering amount of photos that he took back in a day and age where you took one photo on a glass plate, and you didn't have digital.
So, the size and scope of what he did is staggering. And then you add in the quality of the photos back in a day and age when sometimes your person had to sit for 30 seconds or 45 seconds they had to sit still.
So, it's a combination of personal achievement on a historical basis as well as great photographic elements combined.
Julia Meek: And they really do speak for themselves, everything that you just said.
Jim Gabbard: Yeah, I think there's some of these images you look at and you can just feel that person's ideas and thoughts. Yeah, it's beautiful to look at, compelling,
Julia Meek: Amazing. Now that first exhibit back in 2023 of the Curtis work, would also begin your friendship with John Graybill. That's Curtis's great grandson and his work with the Curtis Legacy Foundation. What is that Foundation's overarching goal and mission?
Jim Gabbard: Yeah, we've developed a great relationship with John and Coleen Graybill, and their legacy is not just preserving Curtis's work, which is a big part of it, but also the importance of the Native American culture and heritage.
They work a lot with Native American communities. They're huge advocates, and they're doing the Descendants Project, which they're actually photographing descendants from people that Edward Curtis had photographed.
What an amazing project that is. To track down, you know, descendants of the original people that Curtis photographed and re photographing them with the same equipment, or the same type of equipment that Curtis used. So, it's a huge legacy to honor Curtis's advocacy for Native Americans.
Julia Meek: And again, timely.
Jim Gabbard: Timely. Yes.
Julia Meek: So, the exhibit is based on the foundation's actual Edward S Curtis Unpublished Series. This is actually four books in the series, and it includes 700 never-seen photos of his work, 1900 to 1927? That's a huge deal, Jim. What does this mean to the world?
Jim Gabbard: Well, (sighs) it means a lot to the world. And I honestly say it means a lot to Garrett in Northeast Indiana that we're going to be the ones showing it. (chuckles) This work has not been seen.
This is one of those great stories where they discovered these photos that had not been published, and they have them there, and then all of a sudden, well, we've got to get these shown, and we've got to publish them.
So, they're working on these books, which they got done in time, and we'll have them there at the museum, and then for us to be the first to show it is quite an accomplishment for Garrett. And I think, I hope, northeast Indiana appreciates the value of what we've done.
Julia Meek: And this is truly based on the great friendship that was formed at the first meeting on the first visit?
Jim Gabbard: We feel we've developed a really good working relationship with John and Coleen and what they're doing, and have a great deal of respect, for and we've always honored, you know, what they're doing, and respected and trying to do anything we can to make sure we honor their legacy and the legacy of Edward Curtis. And maybe even more importantly, the legacy of the Native Americans.
Julia Meek: All rolled into one. It's a beautiful, beautiful mission, and thank you for it. So the exhibit opening also gains impact with everything you've just said, because Curtis's great grandson and his wife, Coleen, will be there sharing. Tust what are they bringing to the museum table, if you will?
Jim Gabbard: Well, we were grateful that they came last time we had an exhibit, and it was a riveting discussion. And we're going to have a discussion on June 21 with them. It was riveting.
They went a little bit into the life story, which, if you don't know Edward Curtis's life story, it is fascinating. And this one will be a combination of the life story as well as the discovery and a publication of all these new images.
Julia Meek: And so, they will be there specifically for opening night?
Jim Gabbard: They will be there opening night and the next day, at 2pm for a talk that's free to the public. Yeah.
Julia Meek: We'd like to think that they like us as much as we do them. (both chuckle)
Jim Gabbard: I hope, I certainly hope so. Yeah, we're grateful of this opportunity,
Julia Meek: Indeed. Now, okay, Jim, zooming in on this event, the exhibit, and also your physical space. You walk in one of gears, oldest historic banks, which is now converted into a most lovely gallery. What are people going to be met with? What's going to hit them in the face?
Jim Gabbard: I think they're going to step back in time a little bit, and they're going to see a culture and photos of a time that they have heard about but maybe don't know a whole lot about.
We're going to have about 50 photos, as well as some extra material that is going to be there, including Edward Curtis's handwritten journal from his travels to Alaska, which we think is fascinating.
We're also going to have a rug that he used in his studio. He was a portrait photographer, so he had a rug in his studio. We're going to have that rug at the museum.
Julia Meek: My, that takes on even more special occasion. One other thing, how are you going to fit all that in that small but mighty museum that you have? That sounds like a full house.
Jim Gabbard: We've measured it out and think it's going to work. It is, it's going to be full. But we wanted to try to get as many photos that they wanted on there, and they really wanted to try to get 50 up there.
We sent them all the dimensions, and I think it's going to work fine. It's going to be packed, but that's going to be a good thing.
Julia Meek: A good "packed" indeed. Now, from a photographer's perspective, Jim, which you are. You are a teacher of it, in fact. As you study the images as you've been doing, how do you perceive this collection as regards what it tells us, what it shows us? What can it tell us?
Jim Gabbard: Photographically, I see the size and scope of what he did, and personally, as I look at some of the images, I'm particularly drawn to their eyes.
It's almost like looking into their lives or their souls, and their feelings, both positive and negative. And the look in their eyes and the feelings that are evoked as you view the images. They're timeless.
They're a sense of the past. They're a historical achievement. So, for me, photographically, I look not just at the beauty of the images, but I am in awe of what Curtis accomplished in his lifetime.
Julia Meek: Since you are a photographer, again, and you teach it, and you seem to be able to translate it or maybe channel it, do you feel like you are seeing the spirit, at least Curtis saw when he captured what he did?
Jim Gabbard: I do. I think one of the powerful things about Curtis's work is the raw emotions that were brought out. It's almost as if they're visually speaking to you. It's a beautiful sense of looking at the photos. As combined with the beauty of the prints and so forth, it makes for a stunning exhibit.
Julia Meek: And once again, as you collaborate with such a special group, special people, special subject matter, any surprises along the way, as this has come along, quite an adventure and is just about ready to drop?
Jim Gabbard: Well, it's always a challenge doing an exhibit, and Angela Green our gallery coordinator has been emailing back and forth continuously, so it's a long, drawn-out process.
I do know that one of the big challenges was whether or not the books were going to be published and ready to go in time for opening night. And they are, we've, we've got, they're ordered, and they're due in. We were all worried, wondering if they were going to be able to get all these done because of the size and scope of the project. Yeah.
Julia Meek: So, we're all ready to go as soon as we get this hung.
Jim Gabbard: (laughs) Yeah, as soon as we get it hung up. Yes.
Julia Meek: Now I am curious, Jim, this area is rich with Native American culture and tradition and solidarity, and Curtis is quite a hero. How does the topic resonate up close and personal right here with our community in northeast Indiana?
Jim Gabbard: Sure, it's really interesting, because we do have a rich legacy, the Miami, Pokagon, Potawatomi. Curtis never made it east of the Mississippi because of his travels. You know, we're talking mules and cars--at very best, an early car.
So, he never made it to this area, which would have had a very different look and feel to the photographs because of the different houses that they use and the different cultural aspects of it.
But we have a very strong and vital Native American heritage here. It's just Curtis's work never physically made it east of the Mississippi.
Julia Meek: So now it was really It sounds like there's no time like the present.
Jim Gabbard: I would agree with you there, yes. It's a wonderful thing to see, because it connects us all, really. It's a part of our past, and it doesn't really matter that most of it was out west. It's still something that we could very, very much connect to.
Julia Meek: Great point. And in fact, is there a special value right now to amplifying this part of American history? It seems we are in a time when there is a desire to erase some of our more uncomfortable moments.
Jim Gabbard: I think it's very important. You're hearing stories all the time of discoveries, of things that happened back then. I don't think people realize the huge advocacy that Curtis was in trying desperately to present.
Preserve their heritage and often help them with hunger and starvation that was going on. He literally was at the forefront of trying to preserve and help them survive.
And a lot of people don't know this, but he was also one of their very early advocates of trying to desperately preserve the buffalo as it was being completely destroyed.
So his work is a vital component of the Native American legacy and preserving that. And I think that's vital to all of us at all times. It's something that has to be remembered.
Julia Meek: Especially now.
Jim Gabbard: Especially now. We just have to remember what happened and move forward with it, and honor that and preserve it and make sure everybody knows about it.
Julia Meek: It might be an obvious question to ask at this point, but is this exhibit going to get that job done, do you think?
Jim Gabbard: I hope it will start the conversation, and I hope it will bring people that may not know about this, or may not know the history, start to think about it and start to understand.
And maybe dig a little bit into the history and see the beauty of it and the beauty of their culture and the vitality of their culture and start to understand some of the traditions of the Native Americans, which are very, very beautiful and sacred.
I hope people that don't have an understanding of it or appreciation of it might learn a little bit more about our history.
Julia Meek: Great invitation, and I hope they take you up on that, Jim. And while we have you here, it has been over 10 years, maybe closer to 15, since you all got this rolling up in Garrett at that little bank-turned-Museum, Jim. Can you believe you've come this far, this fast, this well?
Jim Gabbard: No, I'm happy that we have and we had a vision. I don't think I quite realized how national we'd be going on that scale. More and more people are reaching out to us from all over, including a recent request from someone in Hollywood to show their work here.
So, more and more people are reaching out to us, and a lot of it's through our website, and a lot of it's hearing. But you start doing these bigger events, and then more people hear about it. So, I'm thrilled that we're here.
I don't know that I expect it to happen quite this large and fast, but I'm grateful that it has. And we are not going to stop. We are going to continue to bring as big and as bold and as new and as fresh exhibits as we can to the Garrett Museum of Art.
Julia Meek: Is that a promise?
Jim Gabbard: That is a promise, as best I can, yes. (both laugh)
Julia Meek: Thank you for that. And last question, this wonderful current exhibit, what do you hope everyone that does visit learns while they're there and takes away with them when they leave?
Jim Gabbard: I would hope that they take away and learn the beauty of the culture and the richness of the Native American and the dignity you see in their faces. I think that's the main takeaway that I would hope for.
I think from a personal enjoyment, I would think, wow, I can't believe this is in Garrett! That I think, and I'm not so sure I still believe this, you know, but to be at the Garrett Museum of Art in northeast Indiana, I'd hope somebody would walk away thinking, wow, I can't believe that's here.
Julia Meek: Jim Gabbard is director of the Garrett Museum of Art. Thank you for sharing your story and this incredible exhibit with our world, Jim, do have a great show.
Jim Gabbard: Thank you for having me.
