(Oneida)   How do women use craft to express their inner life and the world around them? This topic provides the focus of the spring adult enrichment series at the Oneida Community Mansion House, which will be presented at 7 p.m. in the Big Hall on three successive Wednesdays in April.
On April 14, Dr. Kheli R. Willetts will present “African America Women and the Craft Tradition.”  Dr. Willetts is an Assistant Professor African American Art History and Film in the Department of African American Studies and Executive Director of the Community Folk Art Center, a community service based unit of the African American Studies Department.  Prior to joining the faculty at Syracuse University in 2002, Dr. Willetts worked with a number of arts organizations including the Real Art Ways, Studio Museum of Harlem, the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the Connecticut Historical Society and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts.
As Executive Director of the Community Folk Art Center Professor Willetts is responsible for developing diverse and dynamic programming including exhibitions, workshops in visual and expressive arts, lectures and film screenings.
“The Oneida Community’s Best Quilt,” a textile masterpiece created by the women of the commune in 1873, will be presented by OCMH Curator Anthony Wonderley on April 21. Focusing on pictorial content, the talk will survey images on the quilt that illustrate the activities and interests of the quilt's makers. The Best Quilt itself is on permanent display in the Mansion House.  On this occasion, other quilts and quilt pieces of the Oneida Community will be exhibited. Dr. Wonderley (Ph.D., Cornell University) is the author of two books, At the Font of the Marvelous, and  Oneida Iroquois Folklore, Myth, and History: New York Oral Narrative from the Notes of H. E. Allen and Others and he was recently named a Fellow of the New York State Archaeological Association.
On April 28, Pody Vanderwall will speak on the art tapestries of Jessie Catherine Kinsley (1858-1938). Born in the Oneida Community, Jessie Kinsley created textile "paintings" out of silk braidings, a body of work unique in the art of the early twentieth century. A great-granddaughter of the artist, Vanderwall will review Kinsley's life and art, and how her artistic themes relate to her personal circumstances and concerns.  Many of Kinsley's works are on exhibit in the Mansion House. Others will be set out especially for this talk. 
All talks are free and open to the public and are followed by a light reception.
The Oneida Community Mansion House was the home of the 19th century utopian Oneida Community (1848-1880).  Today, the building houses a museum with permanent and changing exhibitions, residential apartments, overnight lodging, Zabroso Restaurant, and banquet and meeting space.  Guided tours are available Wed. through Sat., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sun. at 2 p.m. for a nominal fee.  The Oneida Community Mansion House is located at 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida, NY.  For information call 315-363-0745 or visit www.oneidacommunity.org.
 


Comments




Leave a Reply