Indian culture on display: UMFA exhibit features 145 items

Never-before-exhibited objects of American Indian culture and artistry will be on display at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in a show titled "Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art," which opens Tuesday.

The exhibit features 145 objects from the private collection of John and Marva Warnock, including such things as war shirts, dresses, moccasins, beaded tobacco bags, weapons, cradle boards, dolls and more.

"We are delighted to premiere this exhibit," museum director David Dee said at a press preview Monday. "It is something on a scale and importance that is quite possible that the museum has never done before, at least internally."

The Warnocks, who are both University of Utah alumni, began collecting American Indian art some 25 years ago. "We started with baskets and pots of the Southwest culture because that is what was more available here," said John Warnock.

Then in 2003, "we learned that one of the world's great private collections might be for sale." That collection had been acquired over a number of years by Epic Fine Arts in Michigan, and other than a few pieces that had been put on display mostly had been kept in the company's basement.

The Warnocks flew to Michigan to take a look, "and once we saw it, we fell in love with it," he said. They acquired the collection in 2004, and over the past four years have added a few things. "We also spent a lot of time documenting it. When it came to us, some of the backgrounds were known and some were not."

The collection is remarkable both for its age and for its scope, he said. Some 30 tribes are represented by the artifacts, ranging from the Plains region to the Great Lakes area to the Eastern woodlands.

Artifacts range in age from pre-1800s, mostly the Revolutionary War period; to 1800-25, when explorations by the likes of Lewis and Clark provided early contact with the Indians; through pre- and post-Civil War periods; to the Reservation Period, which occurred after 1875.

"The collection is important for its rarity, but it's also important for its artistic detail," said Marva Warnock. "Almost every object is an artistic expression of culture."

The museum "is honored to be entrusted with this collection," said Dee. It fits perfectly with the museum's mission to provide "innovative exhibits that are aesthetically and visually stunning but are also teaching resources," he said. "Thousands of elementary students will go through the exhibit; high school and college students as well as members of the community will gain insight and appreciation for these cultures. It will be a resource for generations to come."

Included in the exhibition are interactive life panels, a make-and-take table, hands-on activity stations, a touch-screen kiosk with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the collection and other features.

"Splendid Heritage" will remain on display at UMFA through Jan. 3, 2010. It will then go to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo., before embarking on a national tour.

E-mail: carma@desnews.com