WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is one of the most acclaimed Native American Artists in history and one of the foremost female artists working in America today, and beginning on Feb. 10, 2007, the Muscarelle Museum of Art will welcome a special exhibition of her paintings. The challenging exhibition at the Museum at the College of William and Mary titled, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith: Contemporary Native American Paintings and the Response to Colonization…Anniversary of the Beginning…Beginning of the End, opens opposite the beginning of the national anniversary celebrations of the Jamestown 400. For the artist and many Native Americans, the anniversary of the colonization of America was not the patriotic and positive beginning of the United States, but the beginning of the end and potential genocide of Native Americans.

Smith, whose work also hangs in museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and The Whitney Museum in New York, calls herself a cultural art worker. Through her art, she addresses tribal politics, human rights and environmental issues of today, many times with biting humor. Her groundbreaking work also incorporates elements of her heritage, especially focusing on the myths and legends of her ancestors.

When asked to describe herself and her work, Smith has said she is “a harbinger, a mediator and a bridge builder. My art, my life experience, and my tribal ties are totally enmeshed. I go from one community with messages to the other, and I try to enlighten people.”

Smith was raised on the Flathead Reservation in Montana, and has had more than eighty solo exhibitions over the past thirty years. She has also curated more than thirty exhibitions of Native American Art, and lectured at more than 185 universities, museums and conferences nationwide. She has also founded artists groups and organized grassroots protests to express concern for the land and its native people.

“Working with the Native American Resource Center in the Anthropology Department of the College, we are addressing provocative and difficult issues of a Native American artist’s response to colonization as well as exhibiting very important early documents and Special Collections of the College that are the beginnings of the relationship between the early European Americans and the Native Americans. This is a very rare chance to see Thomas Jefferson and others correspond over issues of land ownership, early treaties, and trade, among other topics that deal with the Virginia Indians. To go along with our small historical exhibition, we are honored and thrilled to welcome Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and her work to the Muscarelle,” said Dr. Aaron De Groft, director of the Muscarelle. “This year we will celebrate all types of American Art and I can’t think of a better way to kick off this year-long event than with Smith’s powerful paintings.”

The show runs through April 8. Smith is available for interviews by contacting Rachel Kaplan at (804) 698-8831 or rachel.kaplan@slaypr.com. The Muscarelle Museum of Art is located on Jamestown Road on the campus of The College of William & Mary. The Museum is open from 10 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 12-4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Museum is closed on Mondays. Docent tours are available at 2 p.m. on Sundays and other times to be announced. During these exhibitions, there is an admission fee of $5. Admission is FREE for Museum Members; The College of William & Mary faculty, staff, and students; and children under twelve. For more information about this exhibit or the Muscarelle in general please, call 757-221-2700 or visit www.wm.edu/muscarelle.