‘Ancient Hands’ opening at Albany Area Arts Council

ALBANY — The Albany Area Arts Council will be welcoming its latest monthly exhibit on Thursday when the “Ancient Hands” exhibit opens at the Carnegie Library in downtown Albany.

The exhibit, which features pottery, sculptures, and decorative gourds, is a special exhibition for the Arts Council in that it is connected to both the Albany Symphony Orchestra’s concert Saturday featuring Native American flutist Joseph FireCrow and Chehaw park’s annual three-day Native American Festival, which opens Friday.

“I like that this exhibition is thematic programming for the community,” said Albany Area Arts Council Executive Director Nicole Williams. “There’s so many cool things that happen in the community, but so often they happen in a bubble and we don’t consider what else is going on.

“I think that when we work together and pull those things together, it has more impact than if each of us just does things on our own. That’s really what I’m excited about here. It’s not only us, it’s the Native American Festival, it’s Joseph FireCrow with the symphony.”

Williams is also excited about the Ancient Hands exhibition because it will showcase artwork that is somewhat unusual for the Arts Council, primarily the decorative gourds that are being shown by local artists Jackie Briggs and Karen Kirkland.

“It’s obviously a little bit of a detour for us,” Williams said. “There’s nothing hanging on the walls and that’s a little bit different, but we have had shows before that have just had pottery. I think this is a nice, round collection of artisan craft work.”

Indeed the world of decorative gourds is not one that typically gets a lot of recognition in Albany, but it is an area that is particularly popular across the country. Both Kirkland and Briggs show their work at numerous national and regional showcases and festivals.

The decorative gourds connect nicely to Native American festivals and exhibitions as gourds were vitally important in the lives of ancient peoples. They were used in a variety of ways, including serving as cups, bowls, and water canteens, as well as containers, floats for fishing nets. They even were utilized as water wings for children learning to swim.

For the Ancient Hands exhibition, however, the way that gourds can be turned into pieces of art is what is on display.

Kirkland, who has always been artistically inclined and has been decorating gourds for 17 years, found the hobby after deciding it was less time-consuming than pine needle weaving, which is another passion of hers.

“I learned how to do pine needle baskets and it takes forever to do a pine needle basket,” Kirkland said. “I wanted something that I could do more quickly.”

Kirkland eventually got her friend Briggs, who also does different types of weaving, involved. Now, Briggs is as active in the hobby as her mentor.

Briggs said she likes the possibilities she finds in decorating gourds, which she does in a number of different ways.

“You’re only limited by your imagination,” said Briggs, who embellishes her gourds with various materials in addition to wood-burning traditional Southeastern Native American designs into some of her gourds.

Both women are passionate about their hobby and are looking forward to the Ancient Hands exhibition as yet another way to share it with others.

“I’m a member of several gourd societies, including the American Gourd Society, so it’s promoting it,” Kirkland said. “It’s also to show people that you can do so much with a gourd. It doesn’t have to be something store bought. You can actually create something.

“It’s getting people’s imagination going and I like watching their faces when they see something and go, ‘That’s cool.’”

While the decorative gourds will certainly take some prominence at the exhibition, Ancient Hands will also feature several works by contemporary artist, sculptor, ethnographic artist and art educator Marty Haythorn, who specialized in recreating Native American pottery and sculpture using traditional techniques.

According to his biography, Haythorn is part Native American and has had an interest in Native American pottery since he was a child. He has produced and taught pottery for more than 35 years and, in addition to teaching, Haythorn owns Ancient Hands, a company that provides museum-quality reproductions of Southeastern Native American artifacts for museums and the general public.

“Marty’s work is amazing,” Williams said. “I think people are really going to like this exhibition.”

Ancient Hands will open with a special reception 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursday that is free and open to the public. The reception will feature light refreshments and the artists will be on hand to discuss their work.

The exhibit will run through April 29 and can viewed during the Arts Council’s normal business hours. The Arts Council’s Carnegie Library headquarters is located at 215 N. Jackson St. in downtown Albany and is open to the public 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays.

To learn more about the Albany Area Arts Council, visit www.albanyartscouncil.org or contact the organization at (229) 439-ARTS (2787).