Kelly Church & Cherish Parrish: In Our Words, An Intergenerational Dialogue at the University of Michigan’s Stamps Gallery centers the subjectivities of two contemporary Indigenous artists, whose practices have sustained and bolstered the relevance of the age-old Anishinaabe practice of black ash basket-making in the 21st century. Kelly Church and Cherish Parrish explore themes such as Native women’s labor as carriers of culture, the legacy of boarding schools, treaties, and stories from ancestors who walked on through their work. The show at Stamps Gallery offers a critique of the settler-colonial paradigm of systemic erasure and assimilation, and pays homage to the inherited strength, resilience, fortitude, and bravery that empowered Indigenous communities to sustain and bolster their cultures, languages, and art practices for generations.
Curated by Srimoyee Mitra with curatorial assistant Zoi Crampton.
Learn more about the exhibition by watching this video.
Kelly Church & Cherish Parrish: In Our Words, An Intergenerational Dialogue and its associated programs are generously funded by Michigan Humanities and U-M Arts Initiative.
The show is organized by Stamps Gallery, a public center for contemporary art and design in downtown Ann Arbor. We are part of the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan (U-M). Building on the school’s strong tradition of excellence, thought leadership, and community engagement, our goal is to develop innovative and scholarly exhibitions, publications, and public programs that foster vibrant platforms for presentation, discussion, and inquiry into the urgent questions and concerns of our time. The gallery functions as an incubator and lab for contemporary artists and designers, faculty, and students to explore ideas and projects to inspire new ways of looking, making, and thinking.
All programs are free and open to the public.
For more information, visit stamps.umich.edu/stamps-gallery.
