Renaissance
When you enter Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s Gathering Hall in downtown Banning, CA, among the many notable works by Native American artists, you’ll see one centerpiece painting warmly welcoming you:
It’s Gerald Clarke Jr.’s blanket rattle painting, celebrating how Cahuilla traditional bird singing made a comeback and once again became a vibrant social activity in the Native American community. The singing had dwindled before it was nurtured into a vibrant renaissance that has continued into new generations.
Bird Singers Ernest Siva (left), president of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, and Bill Madrigal (right) singing and dancing with others near the blanket painting in the Learning Center’s Gathering Hall. (Carlos Puma Photo)
This painting by a Cahuilla Bird Singer about a cultural renaissance of bird singing has witnessed bird singers and dancers of all ages, from their 90s to babies in their parents’ arms, singing and dancing in the Center’s Gathering Hall as part of that renaissance.
The blanket painting oversees dancing (left) and singing to traditional birds with Morongo Bird Singers and Dancers at the Learning Center’s Gathering Hall. (Carlos Puma Photos)
The blanket painting is that friend who always supports the Center’s events and activities. It’s the reminder that the Center is not a museum; we don’t exhibit artifacts in displays focusing on the ancient past. Instead, we dance and sing. We celebrate Native American contemporary and traditional living cultures. And the painting keeps our vision vibrant, reminding us that together, we will succeed in saving and sharing Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.
The blanket painting looks over the Learning Center’s crowd as Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano) shares a story in Serrano from his aunt Dorothy Ramon. (Carlos Puma Photo)
The Blanket Painting and Falling Rock
The blanket painting traveled last year from Banning to Palm Springs Art Museum to join an exhibit of three decades of work by Gerald Clarke Jr. of Cahuilla Reservation.
Museum goer studies blanket painting at Palm Springs Art Museum in January 2020. (Pat Murkland Photo).
From the Palm Springs Art Museum Exhibition and Catalog, Gerald Clarke: Falling Rock:
”Gerald Clarke, Cahuilla, born 1967, Rattle Painting: Blanket, 2012, acrylic on canvas with DVD discs, abalone shell, stones, and raffia, 49 x 65 3/4 in.,
Collection of Ernest and June Siva, L2019.14
According to Clarke, “In this painting, I've created a pattern of Bird Song rattles, abalone shell buttons and attached DVD disks to the corners. Cahuilla bird singing was endangered in the 1980's, but made a remarkable recovery in the 1990's. Today it’s a true force in the community again. As a Cahuilla artist, I wanted to document the bird singing renaissance by making this painting. I refer to it as my ‘blanket’ painting.” The background is composed of horizontal bands of color reminiscent of banded Navajo and Pueblo traditional blanket styles.”
A museum curator tells us that the Gerald Clarke: Falling Rock exhibit, interrupted by the pandemic, will hopefully re-open soon at the museum. Meanwhile, visit the exhibit online. And now, a book of the exhibit catalog is available at the Palm Springs Art Museum online store.
Contributors include the Native American perspectives of Gerald Clarke and Gordon Johnson (Cahuilla/Cupeño) in conversation, and a scholar on contemporary Native American art, Ashley Holland (citizen of the Cherokee Nation), who wrote about his use of language, including using and importance of preserving the Cahuilla language, and other Indigenous languages.
Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano), president of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, talks about bird songs and their relationship with Gerald Clarke’s artwork.
Notes on Falling Rock
“As you view my work …” Gerald Clarke writes in Falling Rock, “I ask that you don’t simply compare or contrast it to ‘traditional Native American art,’ but that you understand that it exists within a spectrum of Indigenous expression that is simultaneously ancient and contemporary. I am not simply a contemporary artist that happens to be Indian. I am a Native American artist. I am a Cahuilla artist.”
This richly illustrated 136-page book surveys three decades of work by contemporary Native American artist Gerald Clarke Jr. (Cahuilla). “Using wit and humor to expose historical and present-day injustice, Clarke brings a decolonial perspective to urgent cultural and political issues facing our world.” More information HERE.
By Christine Giles,
Senior Curator, Palm Springs Art Museum
Gerald Lloyd Clarke Jr. (Cahuilla, born Hemet, CA, 1967) is an artist, cowboy, university professor, tribal leader, and Indian (the artist’s preferred identity). He is a member of the Cahuilla Band of Indians and lives on the Cahuilla reservation with his family on their ancestral land near Anza, California, where he raises cattle as his father, grandfather, and other Cahuilla Indians have done since the Spanish Colonial period over 250 years ago.
The artist (left) singing traditional Cahuilla bird songs at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s 2018 Dragonfly Gala. (Carlos Puma Photo)
Combining various media in his sculptures, paintings, and installations, Clarke derives artistic inspiration from his homeland’s cultural heritage and its desert and mountain environment. He utilizes wit and humor to expose historical and present-day injustices found in critical social, economic, and environmental issues facing our world. Art and life are inseparable for Gerald Clarke and his creative acts are expressions of sovereignty. The use of found and everyday objects ranging from discarded books and beer cans to gumball machines and road signs occurs throughout Clarke’s career. He often incorporates Cahuilla elements blending the traditional with the contemporary to bridge past and present.
Clarke’s art celebrates life experiences — from joyous to tragic, from past to present — by deploying common objects and everyday iconography in his work. These everyday objects are part of a dynamic living present that he uses to express his contemporary perspective on the world. … Gerald Clarke: Falling Rock has been a highly successful and a popular addition to the galleries for adults and children alike.
A sampling from Falling Rock:
“Within the Cahuilla community, as in the world at large,” Gerald Clarke writes in Falling Rock, “I’ve seen how certain people are naturally drawn toward fulfilling the roles of healer, leader, teacher, and activist, among other roles. I feel that an artist plays a vital role within healthy communities as well. For many Indigenous cultures, including the Cahuilla, the world did not suddenly exist, but was created by a Creator entity. Creation is special and sacred. To create anything, including art, is to mirror the sacred act of the original creation.
“The language, purpose, and forms of the contemporary art world are new to my people. While my work may not appear ‘traditional,’ it is part of the ongoing creative responses to the world that the Cahuilla have exercised since ancient times.”
Call to Creativity: Read!
By Candy Navarrete
Are you an avid reader with a niche interest in stories by Indigenous authors or perchance just curious? We welcome you to partake in the California State University, San Bernardino, First Peoples Center Indigenous Book Club. The short stories for this Spring will be exploring genres in Indigenous futurisms, horror, sci-fi, two-spirit and even comic books. Meetings are every other Monday, and because readings are short, you can partake in the meeting of your choice. If interested, please make sure to RSVP email HERE to receive the Zoom link and access to readings. We look forward to meeting you!
Continuing Schedule (began Feb. 8):
3/8: Fantasy, Alt. Reality — "Kelsey and the Burdened Breaths" by Darci Little Badger
3/22: Climate Change Fiction — "An Athabasca Story" by Warren Cairou
4/5: Indigiqueer, Speculative Fiction — "How to Survive the Apocalypse for Native Girls" by Kai Minosh Pyle & Possibly: "Abacus" by Nathan Adler
4/19- Horror, Supernatural, Sci-Fi, Speculative — Rebecca Roanhorse
5/3 - Comics Pt. 1 — featuring work from Arigon Starr & David Mack
5/17 - Comics Pt. 2 — featuring work from Darci Little Badger, Richard Van Camp, and Chelsea Vowel
Thank you!
Pat Murkland, Editor. February 24, 2021. Contribute to News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center. Tell us your ideas: EMAIL. Dorothy Ramon Learning Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that saves and shares Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. Join us at dorothyramon.org and Dorothy Ramon Learning Center on Facebook.