Guest curators bring valuable perspectives to CWU museum

The CWU Museum of Culture and Environment (MCE) will be hosting two exhibits over the next month that were developed by guest curators.

In the main gallery, visitors can see Yakama Beadwork: Images in Glass, which focuses on Yakama pictorial beadwork. Strung and stitched by skillful Yakama Nation beaders, glass beads form beautiful images of grazing deer, chirping birds, people dressed in their finest, and pop-culture icons.

This exhibit showcases the diversity of Yakama pictorial beadwork through the eyes of independent museum curator and professional beader Miles Miller, an enrolled member of Yakama Nation who holds a master’s degree in museology. In each beadwork piece, you will glimpse into artists’ worlds, a visual reminder of significant moments in their or their families lives—the stories lost to time. 

As part of this exhibition, the MCE will be hosting a roundtable on Friday, November 17, at noon to explore the issue of cultural appropriation. This event will feature insights from four Native American scholars, including Gena Peone (Spokane), a museum/cultural consultant and archivist with Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission; Kyle Pittman (Nez Perce), a faculty member at the Evergreen State College; Mike Tulee, PhD (Yakama), Executive Director of United Indians of All Tribes; and Miller (Yakama). 

A second exhibit at the MCE this fall, We’ve Always Been Here: Queer Histories of Kittitas County, was curated by CWU graduate student Tiernan VanSuetendael. Working with the museum exhibit design class, VanSuetendael developed an exhibit that uses the word “queer” to point to the diversity of genders and sexual orientations that have existed in our county’s history. The exhibit highlights the stories of queer Kittitas County residents who have made our community what it is today.

“I hope people will walk away from this exhibit feeling that they have a place in history, that they belong here, that LGBTQ+ people have always been here, and have history,” VanSuetendael said.

To honor the themes of We’ve Always Been Here, the MCE is partnering with the TransRural Lives digital storytelling project to memorialize Transgender Day of Remembrance on Monday, November 20, at 4:30 p.m. The project will mark the loss of trans and gender-diverse people and create a space of remembrance. The goal is for the CWU community to reflect on ways we can address anti-transgender violence, and engage with the experiences of trans individuals affected by these issues.

TransRural Lives explores and celebrates the rich lives of rural transgender adults, and is funded in part by a Humanities Washington Stories Fund Grant. To learn more about this project, visit www.transrurallives.org or search @transrurallives on Instagram.

Both MCE exhibits will be on display through December 9. The CWU Museum of Culture and Environment is located in Dean Hall on the Ellensburg campus, and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

If you have questions, email museum@cwu.edu or call 509-963 2313.