1981 Scenes from an American Tragedy
I was born and raised in Aberdeen, SD. I did not leave until I pursued my graduate
studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. I spent two years there
and two more in Indianapolis, Indiana, after his graduation. In 1976 I moved back
to Aberdeen to accept a teaching position at Northern State University. Returning
to my hometown I was surprised to find racism more obvious than in the multi-racial
communities I lived in Illinois and Indiana. In an attempt to come to a better understanding
of this social situation I began to research United States and American Indian relations
between 1830 and 1930. Scenes from an American Tragedy is the result of that research.
Seven 3’ by 6’ sections sample his research and symbolize events in Florida, Georgia,
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Colorado,
Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, Minnesota, and South Dakota. I color keyed the events
on the canvas to match research information stamped into the wood side-walls of the
sections.
- wood, canvas, & mixed media
- Scenes from an American Tragedy is in the collection of the University of South
Dakota, Vermillion, SD.
gallery of 3 images
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