In The News: GU Urban Arts Center Opens 'Land Acknowledgement' Show

A new show opening Nov. 4 at the Gonzaga University Urban Arts Center showcases 17 local Indigenous artists in a show called "Land Acknowledgement." 

The show was curated by Charlene Teters, a member of the Spokane tribe and a former dean of the Institute of Native American Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Carolyn Lamberson of the Spokesman-Review authored a story about the show in the Nov. 4 edition of the paper. 

"Land acknowledgments have become almost perfunctory in recent years," Lamberson wrote. "It is the practice of beginning a public event by referencing and honoring Native American tribes whose people used to live on the lands where the event is held, before the colonization by white occupiers.

"A land acknowledgment can be considered a mere courtesy, or, in the case of a new exhibition opening Friday at the Gonzaga University Urban Arts Center, a chance to amplify Native culture and/or to issue a challenge."

The Gonzaga University Urban Arts Center is located at 125 S. Stevens in Spokane, on the 3rd floor. It is open for visitors Fridays 4-7 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free. 

There will be a panel discussion about the show on Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 3 p.m. in the Hemmingson Ballroom on the Gonzaga campus.