Shan Goshorn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shan Goshorn
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| Born | July 3, 1957 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
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| Died | December 1, 2018 (aged 61) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
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| Nationality | Eastern Band Cherokee, American |
| Education | Cleveland Institute of Art |
| Alma mater | Atlanta College of Art |
| Movement | Community art |
| Spouse(s) | Tom Pendergraft |
| Awards | Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Artist Fellowship 2013 United States Artists Fellowship 2015 |
Shan Goshorn (born July 3, 1957 – died December 1, 2018) was a talented artist from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Shan used her art to talk about important human rights issues. She especially focused on challenges faced by Native American people today. She worked with many different art forms. These included woven paper baskets, silversmithing, painting, and photography. Shan is most famous for her unique baskets. She wove them using paper copies of old documents, maps, and photos. These baskets tell stories of both the tough times and the great successes of Native Americans.
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Shan Goshorn's Early Life
Shan Goshorn was born on July 3, 1957. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Every summer, she visited her grandmother on the Qualla Boundary. This is a special land for the Cherokee people.
Shan found her passion for art when she was a teenager. She worked at her tribe's Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual cooperative in Cherokee, North Carolina. There, she learned about many famous Eastern Band Cherokee artists. She also discovered different Cherokee art forms. This experience led her to a job with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. This group helps support Native American artists. Shan helped organize Native art shows. She also took pictures of how artists gathered materials for Cherokee baskets and carvings.
After college, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board asked Shan to draw 20 Cherokee basket patterns. These drawings taught her the math and rhythm of weaving. This made her believe she could weave a basket herself. But she did not try until 2008. That is when she wove her first basket using paper strips.
Shan's Art Education
Shan went to the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio. She chose this school because of its silversmithing program. She was the only Native American student there. She did not find much support for exploring Native American traditional arts.
So, Shan left the Cleveland Institute of Art. She then went to the Atlanta College of Art. Here, she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She found new ideas when she discovered American Indian Art Magazine. She also found artists like Fritz Scholder (Luiseño) and T.C. Cannon (Kiowa/Caddo). After these discoveries, Shan moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1981 to start her art career.
Shan Goshorn's Art Collections
Shan Goshorn created many amazing art pieces. She often used her art to share stories and important messages.
Her Famous Baskets
From 2009 to 2018, Shan wove over 200 baskets. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian recognized her as one of only 14 living Eastern Band Cherokee artists to master the difficult double-weave technique. This is a very special way of weaving. Shan also made some of her baskets look like those used for specific purposes in the Cherokee community long ago.
Before she focused on baskets, Shan mostly made drawings, paintings, and photographs. She often added color to her black-and-white photos by hand. In all her work, Shan showed historical and current issues about how Native American people are seen.
Shan Goshorn's art is now in many important museums. These include the National Museum of the American Indian, the Denver Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work is also at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, North Carolina. The North American Native Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, also has her art. Her work was also shown at the Renwick Gallery in their 50th Anniversary show. This show was called This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World.
Molly McGlennen, a writer, said that Shan's baskets "reveal Indigenous versions of history." This means they show Native American stories. They help to uncover the differences between Native and non-Native peoples.
Honest Injun Series
Honest Injun is one of Shan Goshorn's art series. It talks about human rights issues that affect Native Americans. For this series, she chose many hand-tinted, black-and-white pictures. These pictures showed brands that used Native American images and names to sell their products. Shan made this collection to respond to America's 500-year celebration of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas.
Reclaiming Cultural Ownership; Challenging Indian Stereotypes
This collection had 36 black-and-white photos. They showed Native American people living their everyday lives. This series aimed to change how Native people are shown by the media. It helped to challenge common stereotypes.
Shan Goshorn's Art Career
Shan Goshorn was part of an art collective called the Urban Indian Five. Other artists in this group included Gerald Cournoyer (Oglala Lakota), Brent Greenwood (Chickasaw/Ponca), Thomas Poolaw (Kiowa), and Holly Wilson (Delaware Nation/Cherokee). This group of artists from different tribes wanted to see how art could help Native people heal from past hurts. They showed their art in places like Indian Health Services facilities.
After she made her first double-weave basket, Shan received many awards and fellowships. Her art has been shown in many famous collections. These include the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC), Gilcrease Museum (Oklahoma), and IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (New Mexico). Other places include the CN Gorman Museum (California), Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minnesota), and Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (Indiana). The Museum of the Cherokee Indian (North Carolina) also has her work.
Shan received a 2013 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship. She also got a 2013 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship and a 2013 SWAIA Discovery Fellowship. In 2014, she received the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship. In 2015, she was given the United States Artists Fellowship.
Shan Goshorn's Passing
Shan Goshorn passed away on December 1, 2018. She was 61 years old and had cancer. She is remembered by her husband, Tom Pendergraft. She is also survived by her mother, Edna Goshorn, and two sisters. Her son, Loma Pendergraft, and daughter, Neosha Pendergraft, also survive her. She had three stepdaughters: Natalee, Carolee, and Sommer. After her death, SWAIA released a statement. It said, "The Native art world has lost a giant. Shan Goshorn was one of a kind, much like her art."
Images for kids
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Shan Goshorn
