TULSA.- Christina Burke has joined Philbrook as Curator of Native American and Non-Western Art. "We are very proud to welcome Christina to our staff. Filling this position allows Philbrook to reestablish its historically important Native American program, which has been dormant since 2002, and to continue its contributions to the field," says Philbrook Executive Director Brian Ferriso. "Philbrook's commitment to Native American art and culture dates to the very founding of the museum. Since opening in 1939, Philbrook has collected and exhibited both historical and contemporary Native American works, supported by a range of educational public programs."

Christina was a Research Collaborator in the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Previously, she was employed as a researcher and an author focusing on the collections of the National Anthropological Archives and National Museum of the American Indian. Christina has also served as a research assistant at the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University, and as an exhibition coordinator at the Smithsonian overseeing a $10 million renovation of the Native North America Hall at the National Museum of Natural History.

Christina received her B.A. with distinction and high honors in Anthropology from the University of Rochester, and an M.A. in Socio-cultural anthropology from Indiana University. She is in the process of defending her PhD dissertation on Lakota Ledger Drawings and Winter Counts at Indiana University. Her publications include: The Year The Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian (forthcoming); essays in Donald Ruleaux: Between Two Worlds (2002), and Arthur Amiotte: Continuity and Diversity (2001) exhibition catalogues; and "Collecting Lakota Histories: Winter Count Pictographs and Texts in the National Anthropological Archives," American Indian Art 26 (2000). In addition to teaching a range of classes at Indiana University, Christina has served as a judge at the 48th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market, as an advisor to "Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, 2" (special exhibition to be shown in 2007 at Philbrook), on the board of directors of the Native American Studies Association, and as a member of the American Indian Council of the Smithsonian Institution.