Left: Beatrice Mandelman (American, 1912–1998), Black Cross, 1966. Oil paint on canvas; 35 ¼ × 23 ¾ in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Mandelman-Ribak Foundation, 2009.730. Right: Louis Ribak (American, born Lithuania, 1902–1979), Santo Domingo Corn Dance, about 1948. Oil paint on canvas; 36 × 40 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Mandelman-Ribak Foundation, 2009.731.

Art and Ambition: Creative Partnerships in the American West

The 18th Annual Petrie Institute of Western American Art Symposium

Left: Beatrice Mandelman (American, 1912–1998), Black Cross, 1966. Oil paint on canvas; 35 ¼ × 23 ¾ in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Mandelman-Ribak Foundation, 2009.730. Right: Louis Ribak (American, born Lithuania, 1902–1979), Santo Domingo Corn Dance, about 1948. Oil paint on canvas; 36 × 40 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Mandelman-Ribak Foundation, 2009.731.

Event Schedule

9 am: Check-in and late registration
Coffee and breakfast served in the Sharp Auditorium lobby, located on the lower level of the Hamilton Building

10 am: Welcome
Welcome by JR (Jennifer R.) Henneman, Director and Curator, Petrie Institute of Western American Art. Opening remarks by Patricia Limerick, Professor of History of the American West, University of Colorado Boulder

10:20–11:10 am: Shannon Vittoria
“Work Hard to Improve Your Drawing Dear”: The Artistic Partnership of Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran

11:10-12 am: Tony Chavarria
Maria and Julian Martinez: Nested Communities in an Age of Upheaval

12-1:30 pm: Lunch Break in Sturm Grand Pavilion
Enjoy lunch (a sandwich, chops, cookie, and water) in Sturm Grand Pavilion, located on level 2 of the Martin Building. To enter, please proceed to level 2 of the Hamilton Building and walk across the bridge. The Sturm Grand Pavilion is located directly across the bridge.

1:30 pm: Lectures resume
Remarks by Patricia Limerick

1:40-2:30 pm: Micah Messenheimer
An Accomplishment Too Submerged: Betsy Forster and Laura Gilpin

2:30-3:20 pm: David L. Witt
Mandelman and Ribak: The Power Couple of Taos

3:20-3:30 pm: Break

3:30-4:30 pm: Panel discussion with select Q&A

4:30–5:30 pm: Happy Hour
Refreshments and light snacks served immediately following the symposium, just outside the auditorium in Sharp Auditorium lobby.

About the Speakers

Shannon Vittoria is an Assistant Curator in the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she specializes in eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century American painting, sculpture, and drawing. Since arriving at The Met in 2015, she contributed to the research and organization of Thomas Cole’s Journey: Atlantic Crossings (2018) and curated the exhibitions Artistic Encounters with Indigenous America (2019) and Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo (2021). Vittoria holds a Ph.D. from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, where she completed her doctoral dissertation Nature and Nostalgia in the Art of Mary Nimmo Moran (1842-1899). She is currently conducting research for her forthcoming exhibition American Women on Paper, opening at The Met in August 2024.

Tony Chavarria (Santa Clara Pueblo) has over 30 years of experience collaborating with tribes and curating Native material culture. As curator of ethnology at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe, he has curated many exhibitions of historic and contemporary Native Art. Tony served as the Community Liaison and co-curator for the inaugural Pueblo exhibition at NMAI and was co-curator for the first Native culture exhibition at Epcot Center. He continues to consult with many museums on matters of Native culture art and remains an occasional potter.

Micah Messenheimer is Curator of Photography in the Prints & Photographs Division of the Library of Congress, with areas of specialization in 19th century practice, landscape and the environment, contemporary indigenous photography, and parallels between photography and fine art. Recent publications include a forthcoming essay on the daguerreotypist Augustus Washington, the exhibition catalogue Nexus of Modernism, and the Story Map, Camera and Locomotive. At the Library, they have served on the exhibition teams for the Whitman Bicentennial and Pride in the Library and presented numerous public and Congressional displays. In March 2017, Micah moved to the Library from the Denver Art Museum, where they curated the exhibitions Common Threads: Portraits by August Sander & Seydou Keïta and Delegation Portraits and coordinated the museum’s photography lecture series. Micah holds graduate degrees from the University of Denver and San Francisco State University.

David L. Witt is Curator, Seton Legacy Project, (Academy for the Love of Learning, Santa Fe, New Mexico) for collections and education regarding artist-naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton. Formerly, Curator, Harwood Museum of Art (University of New Mexico, Taos) with special focus on Post-War Modernism and contemporary art exhibitions. Author of four award-winning history books, he has also worked as a poisonous snake caretaker, systems theorist, and talent/consultant for Public Television programs.

Landscap painting of Native Americans traveling the countryside at sunrise.

Charles Marion Russell, In the Enemy’s Country, 1921. Oil on canvas; 24 x 36 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Magness Family in memory of Betsy Magness, 1991.751.

The Petrie Institute of Western American Art

The Denver Art Museum has collected art related to the West for over 60 years. The Petrie Institute of Western American Art (PIWAA) oversees the western American art collection, which encompasses two centuries of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper related to the West.

Learn more about the Petrie Institute of Western American art department and its curatorial staff below.

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