The Native American Studies program at West Virginia University is hosting a free presentation examining the visual styles of the Northwest Coast Native Americans. Janet Snyder, WVU professor of art, will be the featured speaker.

The event is Monday, Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in room G08 in the Physical Activity and Sports Sciences Building on the Evansdale Campus. It is free and open to the public. Parking is available in Lot 77 for free after 5 p.m.

The lecture is part of the Sycamore Circle Series, designed to give audiences an opportunity to informally engage with scholars and cultural educators on a range of Native American topics.

“Professor Snyder has an incredible wealth of knowledge about American Indian visual culture,” said Bonnie Brown, Native American Studies program coordinator.

“We may be familiar with popular Northwest-style images such as the Seattle Seahawks logo, or have seen photos of elaborate totem poles, beautifully carved and painted Northwest canoes, wooden masks, and so on, but Dr. Snyder’s insights will teach us about the significance of these art forms and the iconic images they bear,” Brown said.

Snyder’s Sycamore Circle presentation will address historic poles and masks of the northern coast people.

She is the coordinator of the art history program in the WVU College of Creative Arts, and is a member of the Native American Studies Program committee.

Her interest in Northwest Coast design includes a particular interest in the sculpture and performance of the Northwest Coast. Snyder makes use of the same practice of close looking, drawing and analysis of forms in Northwest Coast visual culture that she uses in researching Medieval stone architectural sculpture.

Snyder completed a Ph.D. at Columbia University, specializing in Native American art history and medieval art and architecture.

For more information about the event, call 304-293-4626 or email BonnieM.Brown@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

dr/01/22/15

CONTACT: Devon Copeland, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
304.293.6867, Devon.Copeland@mail.wvu.edu

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