Donor Gives Academy Southwest Pottery and Textiles
February 2012
A donation of Southwest Indian pottery and textiles was recently received by the Department of Anthropology. The collection dates throughout the 20th century and includes pottery from Acoma, Santa Clara, Tesuque and Zuni Pueblos, Hopi katsinam, Okhay Owingeh and Jemez Pueblo textiles, and Navajo baskets, pottery, carvings and textiles.
To view the collection, click here.
Academy Artwork Now on Display at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center
February 2012
Artwork from the Academy's Anthropology collection is featured in a new exhibit at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center. The exhibition, Memory and Markets: Pueblo Painting in the Early 20th Century, explores the entrance of Pueblo artists into the modern art market, and is on view now until May 2012. To view the Academy's full collection of Pueblo paintings on our online database, click here.
Academy Receives Native American Pottery and Artwork
December 2011
The Department of Anthropology recently received a donation of Native American pottery and artwork, dating from the 1960s to the 1980s. The collection includes pieces from important Pueblo potters such as Margaret Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) and Lucy Martin Lewis (Acoma Pueblo), as well as numbered and signed lithographs and serigraphs from artists R.C. Gorman (Navajo) and Fritz Scholder (Luiseño).
To view the collection, click here.
Evolving Traditions: Southwest Native Pottery and Silver Opens Academy’s New Exhibit Space
May 2011
The California Academy of Sciences has completed a new gallery on the third floor and the first exhibit is now open. Drawn entirely from the Academy’s Anthropology collection, Evolving Traditions: Southwest Native Pottery and Silver highlights pottery and silver jewelry created by Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, and Rio Grande Pueblo artists. Ranging from the dramatic black-on-black pottery of Maria and Julian Martinez to the wrought silver bracelets of Kenneth Begay and others, the selection exemplifies over one thousand years of cultural continuity, documenting the persistence of designs and patterns in both traditional and innovative ways. To view the Academy's full collection of Southwest pottery and silver, go to our online database and select "Category: Pottery" or "Category: Jewelry & Metalwork" coupled with the cultural group of your choice.
Polynesian Collection Donated to Academy
April 2011
Recently, the Department of Anthropology received a donation of Polynesian objects from Tongo, Samoa and Fiji. Collected in 1984, shortly after their manufacture, the pieces exemplify ongoing cultural traditions in the islands. Included in the collection are tapa cloths, woven fans, and beautifully carved wooden bowls and forks.
To view the collection, click here.
Academy Collection Contributes to Ongoing Exhibit on California Indians
October 2010
A new exhibit opening this month at Sacramento's California Museum showcases California Indians from prehistory to the present day. California Indians: Making A Difference is an ongoing exhibition featuring ancient artifacts, historic objects, oral histories, and contemporary art installations, all from Native Californians. Objects from the Academy's Anthropology collection will be displayed on a rotating basis, including a bottle glass projectile point crafted by the well-known Yahi Indian Ishi in 1914. To view the Academy's full collection of California Indian cultural objects, go to our online database and type "California" in the "State/Prov./Dist." box coupled with the object type and/or cultural group of your choice.
Academy Curator Makes Cover of Nature - Again!
August 2010
Academy Curator of Anthropology Zeray Alemseged recently made the cover of the prestigious journal Nature- again! This month's article discusses the earliest evidence of hominins processing food with stone tools. Dr. Alemseged's previous cover story described his team's find of a 3.3 million year old child, nicknamed Selam.
Academy Curator's Discovery Extends Stone Tool-Assisted Meat Processing by 800,000 Years
August 2010
Academy Curator of Anthropology Zeray Alemseged and his team have discovered the earliest known use of stone tools in processing meat: more than 3.3 million years ago, fully 800,000 years earlier than previously thought. Read the full article in Nature or the press coverage, below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10938453
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100811-lucy-human-tools-meat-eating-nature-science/
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100811/full/news.2010.399.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704216804575423421993711734.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-lucys-meateating-made-us-what-we-are-now-2050122.html
https://asunews.asu.edu/20100811_bones
California Indian Culinary Tools From the Academy Collection Tour With Grace Hudson Exhibit
July 2010
California Indian culinary objects from the Academy's Anthropology collection are now on display at Ukiah's Grace Hudson Museum and will join the exhibit on tour late next year. Seaweed, Salmon, and Manzanita Cider: A California Indian Feast, explores culinary traditions of California Indian tribes, how over millennia these traditions developed in accordance with the ecosystems of which they became a part, and the ways in which such traditions continue today, sometimes with the assistance of modern conveniences. The exhibit is showing at the Grace Hudson Museum now until November 2010, when it will travel to other California museums through 2014. To view the Academy's full collection of California Indian culinary objects, go to our online database and type "California" in the "State/Prov./Dist." box coupled with the object type and/or cultural group of your choice.
Southwestern Native American Pottery Exhibit at SFO Features Large Array From Academy Collection
June 2009
Southwestern Native American Pottery, a new exhibit at the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport, features objects from the Academy's Anthropology collection. The 135 Academy pieces include jars, bowls, tiles, figurines and other objects from nearly 20 different cultural groups. Created for utilitarian, ceremonial and artistic purposes, the selection spans 1,000 years, from ancient to contemporary. The exhibit is installed in the pre-security area of SFO's international terminal, and runs now through November 2009. To view the Academy's full collection of Southwest pottery, go to our online database and select "Category: Pottery" coupled with the cultural group of your choice.