Artist Talk with James Lavadour: "The Properties of Paint" at the Smithsonian's NMAI

When: SATURDAY, APRIL 9 AT 1 PM.

Where: Room 4018-19, Fourth Level, National Museum of the American Indian, 4th St. & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC.

Join noted Native American contemporary artist James Lavadour (Walla Walla) for a fascinating look at the connections between improvisational jazz and his approach to painting. Lavadour’s work is featured in Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection, now on view at NMAI.

Lavadour, long inspired by the landscape of eastern Oregon, cites the influence of Chinese painting, abstract expressionism, and the music of John Coltrane on recent paintings. For Lavadour, “music, especially jazz, became a model of how major forces could merge and open up new possibilities.” His work has been collected by the Heard Museum, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Qwest Corporation, Seattle Arts Commission and the Washington State Arts Commission, as well as exhibited internationally. In 1992, Lavadour and friends incorporated the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts, a printmaking studio, gallery, and venue for traditional arts of the Plateau.

This program received support from the National Museum of the American Indian’s National Council.
Live webcast at www.AmericanIndian.si.edu/webcasts.