INSIDE NMAI
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GOING TO DISNEY WORLD: NATIVE ART AT EPCOT CENTER
BY AMY VAN ALLEN
than 30,000 visitors. The core of this visually stunning show
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consists of more than 30 works on loan from the National Museum of the American Indian, as well as loans from the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe, N.M. Entitled Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change in American Indian Art and showing in the American Heritage Gallery, it is Epcot’s first-ever exhibition featuring the history and culture of Native America. NMAI curator Emil Her Many Horses (La- kota) selected pieces both contemporary and
34 AMERICAN INDIAN WINTER 2018
ndigenous culture has come to a surprising new venue, Epcot Center at Walt Disney World in Florida, and it has been a hit. In the first month since it opened on July 27, 2018, it hosted more
historic to highlight how artists continually innovate while drawing on past traditions and techniques. Many of the contemporary pieces have never been on display. Her Many Horses worked closely with MIAC curator Tony Cha- varria (Santa Clara Pueblo) to determine the exhibition theme and choose objects. The gallery holds seven large cases that re-
flect geographic regions of the United States. An interactive touch-screen station offers personal reflections from three contempo- rary artists. A diverse selection of music plays throughout the space – another highlight of Indigenous artistic expression compiled by Museum staff. This remarkable opportunity grew out of
a pro-bono project of Walt Disney Imagineer- ing. In April 2017, Museum staff working on a project related to signage and public spaces
spent two days brainstorming with approxi- mately 50 Imagineers. MIAC had undertaken a similar workshop several years previously. The American Heritage Gallery had been tell- ing a story of African-American history with objects from the Kinsey Collection (now part of the Smithsonian’s collection). Walt Disney Imagineering next wanted to tell an American Indian story and asked the two museums to help them. Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change
in American Indian Art is scheduled to be on display at Walt Disney World, Epcot Center for five years. X
Amy Van Allen is the project manager for the Museum’s Creating Tradition and Inka Road projects, among others. She is also a PhD candidate in geography working on politics in cultural heritage.
Photos courtesy of Walt Disney World.
PHOTO BY DAVID ROARK
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