KU Visiting artists to showcase indigenous arts in public talk, performance

A trio of renowned indigenous artists will visit Kansas University this month to share the visual arts and performing arts of the Haida, an indigenous people of North America’s Pacific Northwest Coast.

Weaver Evelyn Vanderhoop, basket-maker Delores Churchill and musician Gloria Burns — who all hail from the Pacific Northwest Coast — will host art demonstrations for students as well as a public lecture and performance.

Their visit includes an artist talk with Vanderhoop on Tuesday at The Commons, 1340 Jayhawk Blvd., about Naaxiin textiles, an indigenous weaving tradition of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

The public event, slated for 7 p.m., will feature Vanderhoop and Churchill — both wearing Naaxiin robes created by Vanderhoop — in a traditional Haida dance performance. Burns will accompany the dancers with Haida singing and drumming.

The artists’ visit is sponsored by the Spencer Museum of Art, The Commons and Beth and Valentino Stella. For more information, visit spencerart.ku.edu.