Kimowan Metchewais McLain collection

GUID

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv40a9eee3f-befb-4855-b5fb-d180b5eb5a56

Creator

Metchewais [McLain], Kimowan

Names

Cold Lake First Nations

University of New Mexico

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

McNeil, Larry, 1950-

Place

Alberta

North Carolina -- Chapel Hill

Topic

Art -- American Indian

Indian art -- 21st century

Powwows

Provenance

Bequest of Kimowan Metchewais [McLain] in 2015. Materials in boxes 35-37 were a gift of Kimowan's niece April Strong, 2024.

Creator

Metchewais [McLain], Kimowan

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Kimowan Metchewais [McLain] collection

Summary

The collection of Kimowan Metchewais [McLain], significant First Nations artist, contains materials related to his artistic practice and his personal life. The materials include not only photographs of his art, completed and in-progress, but also sketchbooks and journal entries that give important context to his major works and artistic practices. The materials range from his early career in the early 1990s as a magazine editor to his solo and group exhibitions to his time as an art professor at various universities and images of his final works in 2011. McLain balanced both Western and Native artistic methods and history in his work, his archive provides valuable insight into the swiftly evolving and often contested world of contemporary Native American art.

Biographical / Historical

Kimowan Metchewais [McLain] was a significant figure in the Native art world. He was born in Oxbow, Saskatchewan, October 2, 1963. He used his step-father Bruce's name- McLain, until later in life when he began to go by his mother Ada's maiden name - Metchewais. He spent his childhood and early adulthood on the Cold Lake First Nations reserve in Alberta. He began his artistic career working as an illustrator and later editor at Windspeaker Native Newspaper from 1983 to 1989. From 1992 to 1996 he attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton, receiving his Bachelors of Fine Arts. It was during this time, in 1993, at age 29, that he was diagnosed with oligodendroglioma, a rare form of brain tumor. The surgery to remove the tumor and following radiation left McLain with a permanent bald spot on the back of his head would feature in his art in later years. He was told that life expectancy for this condition was 11-12 years. Despite his illness, in 1995 Kimowan received the Ellen Battel Stoekel Fellowship to spend the summer at Yale University and in 1996 he received a National Award from the Canadian Native Arts Foundation. He continued on to complete his Master of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 1996 to 1999. It was there he met life-long friend Larry McNeil. Kimowan then made the move to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he began teaching in the Art Department at the University of North Carolina, and continuing to exhibit his own work in both solo exhibitions and group exhibitions. In Chapel Hill he lived in the neighborhood of Carrboro, a small, relaxed community attached to the larger college town. At this time, Kimowan developed an interest in "hooping" – hula-hooping as a spiritual activity--founding a collective and developing many close friendships through the hobby. He also began making trips home to Cold Lake and documenting the people and places there. In 2005, following symptoms of his tumor returning, McLain underwent a relatively complication-free surgery that allowed him to return directly to work, including participation in the well-received Loom exhibition. In 2007 Kimowan underwent surgery once again but due to complications from the surgery, Kimowan was left partially paralyzed. For a year, Kimowan worked diligently at rehabilitation, even developing his own rehab program he called "Kimochi," and was eventually able to return both to work and hooping. During his time at the hospital he met his eventual fiancée, Antje Thiessen. Following his return to work, Kimowan continued to evolve his artistic practice – producing what some called his magnum opus - Cold Lake in 2004 and the evocative self-portrait Raincloud in 2010. Both pieces are examples of the space Kimowan gracefully navigated, between Native and Western sensibilities and artistic practices in his work. In 2011 his symptoms returned for a final time and he returned to his mother's home in St. Paul, Alberta, with Thiessen, for palliative care. He passed away on July 29, 2011. A retrospective of his work Horizon: Kimowan Metchewais (McLain) was shown that fall at the John and June Allcott Gallery, University of North Carolina.

Kimowan Metchewais' 2010 curriculum vitae (CV)

Excerpt from Kimowan Metchewais' April 21, 2010 curriculum vitae (CV). Education September 1995 - July 1999 -- Master of Fine Arts- University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, New Mexico) September 1989 - April 1992 -- Bachelor of Fine Arts- University of Alberta, Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) September 1982 - April 1983 -- Foundation Year for Fine Art- Alberta College of Art, Calgary (Alberta, Canada) Professional Experience July 2002- present -- Assistant Professor- University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) Summer 2005 -- Photographer- Government of Alberta, Canada July 2001 - July 2002 -- Visiting Artist and Lecturer- University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) July 1999 - July 2001 -- Minority Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Fine Art- University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) Summer 1998 -- Youth mural project artist facilitator- Alberta Art Gallery, Canada September 1996 - April 1999 -- Instructor for 2-D Design and Drawing (Level I and II)- University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1993 -- Comic book artist and writer- Human Resources Canada Graphic Designer- AIDS Awareness Campaign, Feather of Hope Aboriginal AIDS Prevention Society (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) August 1990 - July 1995 -- Communications Officer- Blue Cross (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) December 1989 - July 1990 -- Managing Editor- Windspeaker Native Newspaper (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) Solo Exhibitions 2010 -- Polariods and Paper- Allcott Gallery, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) 2003 -- Accidental Gathering- Artspace, Raleigh, North Carolina Without Ground- Institute for Contemporary Art, Philadelphia 2002 -- Four Kinds of Stories- Southwest Texas State University, Department of Art & Design Gallery 2000 -- Reburial: Wrathful Architecture by Kimowan McLain- John and June Allcott Gallery, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 1999 -- After - Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1998 -- Kimowan McLain: Paintings- Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1997 -- Stance (Solo performance)- Lucy Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico Group Shows 2009 -- Honouring Traditions- Glenbow Art Museum, Calgary, Alberta Visual Sovereignty- R.C. Gorman Art Museum, UC Davis, Davis, California 2008 -- Ancestral Bonds- Prairie Art Gallery Touring Show 2007 -- Ancestral Bonds- Alberta Art Gallery Touring Show 2004 -- Flock and Fable- Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY 2001 -- Loom- Chatham Label Mill, Pittsboro, North Carolina 2000 -- Faculty Show- Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Group Show- Chapel Hill Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina The Living End (Juried)- Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder Colorado Representing: A Show of Identities (Juried)- Parrish Museum, Southampton, New York 1999 -- Made in New Mexico: Litografias de estudiantes del Tamarind Institute- Instituto Chileno-Norteamericano de Cultura Valparaiso, Santiago, Chile It's About Time- Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1998 -- Solitary Vices (Juried)- Site 21/21, Albuquerque, New Mexico Tamarind Collaborative Lithography Exhibition- Ralph Greene Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico Annual Juried Graduate Exhibition- Jonson Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1997 -- D.H. Lawrence Ranch Exhibition- Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico Small Works (Juried) - Lucy Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico In Pure Fat Units of Conceit (Juried)- Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1996 -- Challenge to the Status Quo- An Alberta Foundation for the Arts travelling exhibition First Nations, Painted Visions- Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta 1995 -- Yale Fellowship Exhibition- Yale University, Norfolk, Connecticut Calgary Native Awareness Days- Triangle Gallery, Calgary, Alberta Contemporary Indian Art from Alberta- Dartmouth, New Hampshire Contemporary American Indian Art- Amherst, Massachusetts 1988 -- Asum Mena (Juried)- Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta Ritual Imagery- Maltwood Gallery, Victoria, British Columbia Modern Echoes of Ancient Dreams- Arts Court, Ottawa, Ontario 1987 -- Asum Mena (Juried)- Front Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta Honors 2005 -- Junior Faculty Research Award, University of North Carolina 2003 -- 2002-3 Individual Fellowship, North Carolina Arts Council 1999 -- 2000 Minority Post-Doctoral Fellowship, University of North Carolina Summer 1995 -- Ellen Battel Stoekel Fellowship, Yale University, Norfolk, Connecticut 1997 -- University of New Mexico Graduate Fellowship Tamarind Institute Collaborative Project, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1996 -- Canadian Native Arts Foundation, National Award 1995 -- Ellen Battel Stoekel Fellowship, Yale University 1994 -- Florence Andison Award for Painting, University of Alberta

Extent

871 Negatives (photographic)

1918 Slides (photographs)

989 Polaroid prints

24 Notebooks

0.8 Linear Feet

1,496 Photographic prints

Date

1987-2011

Archival Repository

National Museum of the American Indian

Identifier

NMAI.AC.084

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Negatives (photographic)

Slides (photographs)

Polaroid prints

Notebooks

Photographic prints

Sketchbooks

Negatives

Slides

Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Kimowan Metchewais [McLain] Collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged by subject. Series 1: Works is arranged chronologically within the subseries, excepting the Works, General subseries. Series 2: Polaroids, retains the original order created by the artist. Images are separated by subject and arranged alphabetically. Series 3: Sketchbooks, is arranged chronologically when date is known. Series 4: Personal Materials, is arranged by subject and occasionally by format. Series 5: Teaching Materials contains slides which are arranged chronologically and by subject.

Processing Information

Processed by Kelsey Moen, intern, Summer 2016. Updates made by Emily Moazami, Head Archivist, 2025.

Rights

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.

Genre/Form

Photographic prints

Sketchbooks

Negatives

Slides

Scope and Contents

The Kimowan Metchewais [McLain] collection spans the majority of Kimowan's artistic career from 1987 to 2011, beginning with his work as a comic illustrator and ending with one of his final pieces, Raincloud. Series 1: Works contains materials relating to his artistic works, mainly consisting of 4X6 color photographs, slides, and negatives of his completed works. There are also images of the works in progress, sources of inspiration for various pieces, and several items reflecting the various processes he used to create the final work, be it painting, "paper wall," installation, or a mixed media piece. Works of note include: After (1999), Map of Moths (2001), Cold Lake (2004), and Raincloud (2010). Series 2: Polaroids is Kimowan's collection of Polaroid prints. These prints were used as a reference collection by the artist, and reflect all aspects of his life and work: from intimate personal portraits of the artist, friends and family, to color studies, to documentation of nature and everyday items, the series is glimpse into the heart of the collection. Series 3: Sketchbooks, is an equally revealing look into Kimowan's artistic practice and personal life. Documenting everything from his tobacco research, his thoughts on art history and teaching, designing his website, the creative process of exhibit planning, and numerous sketches in pen, pencil, and charcoal, the sketchbooks are an invaluable resource for understanding both the man and the work he created. Series 4: Personal Materials contains materials related to Kimowan's personal life- his travels around the U.S. and abroad, the works by other artists he felt were important to collect, published material related to his work and also his decisions on where to go to graduate school and where to apply for teaching positions. Series 5: Teaching Materialscontains materials concerning his teaching career- mainly slides of his student's work, and slides he used in his lectures. He taught art classes at both the University of New Mexico and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, on subjects ranging from "Drawing I" to "Native American Art in the 1980s." The collection contains 4X6 color photographic prints, 35 mm color negatives, 3X5 Polaroid prints, and 35 mm color slides, noted if otherwise. Some titles are bracketed, this reflects a title that has been constructed during processing, titles not bracketed were generally assigned by the creator.

Restrictions

Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

Separated Materials

The National Museum of the American Indian has 185 of Kimowan Metchewais [McLain]'s works in their Modern and Contemporary Arts collection. These pieces have catalog numbers 26/9426 - 26/9610. To view these pieces, an Object Collections Research Request must be made two months in advance, using the form found at http://www.nmai.si.edu/explore/collections/accessing/. Kimowan Metchewais [McLain] also has an artist file held by the Vine Deloria Jr. Library, containing material relevant to this collection. It can be accessed by contacting the library by phone: (301) 238-1376 or email: AskALibrarian@si.edu.

Record ID

ebl-1562715613480-1562715613492-0