FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 08/31/2017
Ashley H Pollock, Public Relations & Information Coordinator Office: 435-865- 8667
College of Performing and Visual Arts Cell: 435-590- 0961
Southern Utah University [email protected]


Keeping Heritage Alive with Gina Adams
Written by Tracy Solimeno


Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah: Artist Gina Adams will be presenting her lecture,
The Object and the Shadow of Other Peoples Stories, at the Southern Utah Museum of Art on
Thursday, September 7 th at 7:00 p.m. for the SUU Department of Art & Design’s Art Insights
series. Adams will discuss how art can be a bridge between ourselves and heritage and talk
about her Native American culturally based artwork. Admission to Art Insights is free and open
to the public.

Adams is best known for the reuse of antique quilts featuring the words of broken treaties
between the United States and Native American tribes, however, her works span a wide range
of artistic styles and mediums including sculpture, ceramics, painting, printmaking and drawing.
Russell Wrankle, Assistant Professor of 3D, Sculpture, and Foundations at SUU College of
Performing and Visual Arts, brought Adams to our community because, "Gina is an elegant and
graceful educator and artist, she chooses media that best serves her idea. I also felt that her
perspective and point of view as a Native American Artist is needed in our community."
Adams is a descendant of both indigenous and colonial Americans. Art has become a way to
pass down memories and keep her genetic heritage alive. Through visual storytelling, viewers
gain a better understanding of who her ancestors were and how all of us are similar to them.
Adams feels that, “The process of making gives her an identity and an ancestral connection. In
this I feel that I have been creating work that re-contextualizes the sense of the sacred and the
ritual object.”
Her work is exhibited extensively throughout the US and resides in many public and private
collections. In 2015 Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art launched her art career with Its
Honor Is Here Pledged and Broken Treaty Quilts. In 2016 she was SARF Smithsonian Artist
Research Fellow, and had Its Honor Is Hereby Pledged exhibitions in Boulder Colorado at
Naropa University’s White Cube Gallery where she is a Faculty in Visual Arts. In the summer of
2017, Gina presented and exhibited at the AIW Conference at Goldsmiths College, University of
London, England.
Gina's formal education includes a BFA from the Maine College of Art and MFA from the
University of Kansas, where she focused on Visual Art, Curatorial Practice and Critical Theory.

Art Insights is hosted during the fall and spring semesters by SUU’s Art & Design faculty.
Students and community members meet to experience presentations and discussions by
visiting artists and art educators from around the nation who share their work and insights.
Be inspired by Gina Adams as she shares the personal and historical story of her ancestors
through her artwork. For more information, please visit www.suu.edu/pva.
About the College of Performing and Visual Arts
The Southern Utah University College of Performing and Visual Arts is comprised of nationally
accredited departments of Art and Design, Music, and Dance. The College also offers programs
in Theatre Arts, graduate programs in Arts Administration and Music, as well as a Center for
Shakespeare Studies. The College offers 16 different degree areas, including liberal arts
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees; professional Bachelor of Music and Bachelor
of Fine Arts in art and theatre degrees; and Master of Fine Arts in Arts Administration, Master of
Arts in Arts Administration, Master of Music Education and Master of Music in Music Technology
graduate degrees. More than 60 full- and part-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching
and mentoring nearly 600 majors in the College. Over 1,100 students enroll each year in over
195 arts classes on the SUU campus. The College presents over 100 performances, lectures,
presentations, and exhibitions each year. The College’s affiliate organizations include the
Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), Utah Shakespeare Festival and SUU’s Ballroom Dance
Company. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, visit
www.suu.edu/pva.
For Calendar Editors: Keeping Heritage Alive with Gina Adams
What: Artist Gina Adams will be presenting her lecture, The Object and the Shadow of
Other Peoples Stories, at the Southern Utah Museum of Art on Thursday,
September 7 th at 7:00 p.m. for the SUU Department of Art & Design’s Art Insights
series. Adams will discuss how art can be a bridge between ourselves and
heritage and talk about her Native American culturally based artwork. Admission
to Art Insights is free and open to the public.

Who: Art Insights, Southern Utah University, Department of Art & Design
When: Thursday, September 7 th , at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Southern Utah Museum of Art, 13 S 300 W, Cedar City, Utah

Tickets: Free admission, General Public invited to attend
Info: Visit www.suu.edu/pva for more information.

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