Polaroids

sova.nmai.ac.084_ref33

Collection 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.

Collection 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.

Scope and Contents: Kimowan used his Polaroids as a reference collection – inspiring many of his works, paintings, "paper walls", and installation pieces. He had them arranged in three handmade boxes, in alphabetical order with card titles separating them. This arrangement was preserved as much as possible – the series titles reflect the box titles, while the folder titles reflect the card titles exactly. Sometimes these folder titles are accurate, while other series, such as the "Ball" series, has no images of balls and instead features everything from portraits to object studies to images of works. The untitled grouping at the end of the series, a collection of almost 200 prints, are images from every part of the collection that McLain had stored separately.

Collection 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).

NMAI.AC.084_ref33

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv44b8ef4c7-78c1-4f63-9ac0-f4d8e88fd9de

NMAI.AC.084

NMAIA

Kimowan Metchewais McLain collection

Creator

Metchewais [McLain], Kimowan

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 e...