ATHENS, Ohio -- The Kennedy Museum of Art is engaging in a unique opportunity for Athens school children this fall. Navajo Ceremonial Practitioner Earl Yellowhair will visit Athens from Sept. 30 until Oct. 4, as part of the museum's ongoing programming with Athens city and county schools.
Earl Yellowhair will be accompanied by his daughter Rosie Yellowhair, who is an artist and sand painter. She will act as interpreter for her father, as he tells his stories in Navajo. Programs will take place at both the Kennedy Museum and in local school classrooms and will focus on the Navajo oral tradition of storytelling. More than 1000 children from surrounding schools will participate. In addition, he will consult with Museum staff on issues related to the museum's collections and educational programming.
Two free, public events are planned. An Athens County Public Library "Family Storytime" event will be held on Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m. For information contact Linda Cochran at (740) 592-4272. There will be a special reception honoring Earl and Rosie Yellowhair at the Kennedy Museum on Oct. 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. For information call (740) 593-1304.
In November 2001, the Kennedy Museum, which houses an extensive collection of Southwest Native American cultural material, initiated an important process of consultation with representatives from the Navajo Nation. As part of this process, Museum curator Jennifer McLerran and Sally Delgado, curator of education, traveled to Window Rock, Ariz. to participate in a consultation visit with staff from the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department and the Navajo Nation Museum. During this visit, McLerran and Delgado shared information on two of the Kennedy Museum's new education gallery exhibitions (The Night Sky and The Stories We Tell...). Yellowhair, also in attendance responded by telling the traditional Navajo story of the placement of the stars, on which these exhibitions are based. In addition, he talked about his involvement with local schools to maintain the Navajo tradition of oral storytelling in the Ganado, Ariz. area where he lives. Yellowhair was invited to Athens and thus began the continuing relationship between Yellowhair and the Kennedy Museum of Art.
This special programming between the Kennedy Museum of Art, local schools, and the Athens County Public Library is sponsored in part by the Athens Foundation. For information on the museum's ongoing programming with local schools, please call (740) 593-0953.
