Tahnee Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder

Tahnee Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder is an American Kiowa, Muscogee, and Seminole[3] beadwork artist, regalia maker, curator, and museum professional from Mountain View, Oklahoma.[4]

Tahnee Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder
Born
Tahnee Marie Ahtone Harjo[1]

NationalityKiowa Tribe, Muscogee Creek, Seminole[2]
Other namesTahnee Ahtone Harjo, Tahnee Growing Thunder
Alma materInstitute of American Indian Arts, Harvard Extension School[3]
Known forCuration, Textile Arts, Beadwork

Background and education

Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder is the daughter of Amos Harjo (Seminole, Muscogee) and Sharron Ahtone Harjo (Kiowa), a respected painter, ledger artist,[5] and educator.[6] Her maternal grandparents were Evelyn Tahome and Jacob Ahtone, who served as Kiowa tribal chairman from 1978 to 1980, and as a United States Department of Interior administrator who contributed to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the Indian Arts and Craft Act of 1990. Tahnee is named after her great aunt who died as a child, Ah-stom-pah ote, which translates to "The One Chosen to Lead In."[7] She is the great granddaughter of famed lattice cradleboard artists Kiowa captive Millie Durgan, and Tahdo Ahtone. The Ahtone family are descendants of Fort Marion prisoners held at St. Augustine, Florida, noted as Kiowa Ledger Art artists. After incarceration from Fort Marion Richard Henry Pratt relocated Beahko into the custody of Hampton Institute where research would be conducted on the prisoners to further educate, and to learn of their genome differences. Today the Ahtone family along with many other Kiowa families hold distinctions as fifth and six generations to obtain advanced and higher education degrees.[8]

Tahnee earned her B.F.A. degree in 2015, in museum studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe,[9][10] and earned her Master of Liberal Arts degree in museology, from Harvard Extension School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[4]

Artwork

A successful dancer on the powwow circuit, Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder mastered beadwork and sewing dance regalia. Besides creating regalia for the Native community, she also exhibits at major Native American art events, including Santa Fe Indian Market, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Chickasaw Nation's Artesian Arts Festival,[2] and the Red Earth Festival, where her beadwork has won prizes.[11] She is known for figurative work in beadwork.[12] Her work has been part of curated art shows, such as Generations at the Red Earth Center[13] and Current Realities: A Dialogue with the People at Individual Artists of Oklahoma (IAO) gallery.[14]

Curatorial practice

Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder works for the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,[15] as a liaison to Oklahoma's 39 American Indian tribes. She served as curator of the textile and American Indian Collections at the Oklahoma History Center,[5][16] and previously, as a curator and collections manager for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Ledyard, Connecticut.[4] While at the Pequot Museum, she curated Without a Theme, a group exhibition of First Nations and Native American visual artists who did not necessary use Native imagery or subject matter in their artwork.[17] Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder's other museum contributions include serving the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany Once Upon A Time in America, Three Centuries of US- American Art as the cultural adviser,[3][18] and her participation in the Brown University, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles exhibition, a research project the Ahtone family contributed to with curator Barbara Hail.

Her research focus is textiles; however, she has extensive knowledge on Native American textile art and beadwork, including beaded medallions.[16]

Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder and her husband, George Growing Thunder, own GT Museum Services, a New York City based firm offering consulting and other services to museums.[4]

Personal

Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder is married to George Growing Thunder (Assiniboine).[19] Her mother-in-law is beadwork artist Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty.[19] Tahnee has three step-children, and the couple have two daughters, both of whom are emerging artists.

Notes

  1. "Red Earth Museum opens". The Edmond Sun. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  2. "Artesian Arts Festival set for May 26 in Sulphur". Chickasaw Times. February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  3. Duke, Ellie (25 June 2020). "Curator Tahnee Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder Picks Five Artists to Watch From Indian Market". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder, Tahnee (Fall 2017). "Seven Directions". First American Art Magazine (Flash extension required) (16): 16–17. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  5. Rossman, Megan. "Paper Trail". Oklahoma Today (July/August 2018). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. Pearce 20
  7. Pearce 24
  8. Ahtone, Tristan. "Nieman Alumni". Harvard University. Nieman Fellowship. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  9. Weideman, Paul (21 August 2015). "Learning Curve". Pasatiempo. Retrieved 18 February 2019. (image of) IAIA graduating senior Tahnee Ahtone Harjo Growing Thunder (Kiowa)
  10. "2017 Alumni Council Election Results". Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  11. "Recent Developments". First American Art Magazine. 4: 20. Fall 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  12. Pearce xiii
  13. Oesch, Eric (29 March 2013). "Red Earth". Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  14. "The Native American voice in the centennial". Norman Transcript. 27 Oct 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  15. "Contact the Oklahoma Historical Society". Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  16. Hughes, Art (19 January 2018). "Native bling: Medallions". Native American Calling. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  17. "Pequot Museum Kicks Off Contemporary Art Exhibition, Without a Theme, with Artist Reception on March 31". Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  18. Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder, Tahnee. "Once Upon A Time in America, Three Centuries of US-American Art". wallraf.museum. Wallraf-Richartz Museum. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  19. "Meet Marita Growing Thunder, leader, activist and clothing designer". Western Organization of Resource Councils. 1 May 2018. Marita mentions her father George and his mother Joyce.

References

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