Check Out Our Final Exhibition of 2011! "People of the Big Voice"

Steenbock Gallery to Open “People of the Big Voice" 

  

“People of the Big Voice” exhibition highlights Charles Van Schaick's photographs of the Ho-Chunk

“People of the Big Voice,” an exhibit featuring photographs by Charles Van Schaick from the Wisconsin State Historical Society collection, will be on display November 7 to December 30 in the Steenbock Gallery.  A reception will be held on Saturday, November 12, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  The event is free and open to the public.  The Steenbock Gallery is located at the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, 1922 University Ave., and is open Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

This unique and rich collection from the Wisconsin State Historical Society highlights Charles Van Schaick's photographs of the Ho-Chunk. Van Schaick was a portrait photographer in Black River Falls, Wisconsin who documented the town and its citizens for over sixty years. The photographs taken by Van Schaick are an invaluable visual legacy of the Ho-Chunk people. These commissioned photographs by the Ho-Chunk were intended for private use for their family, community, and home lives. This exhibition will provide an understanding of how the Ho-Chunk shaped the way they are perceived through the power of self-representation.

This exhibit coincides with the release of "People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942" by Tom Jones, Michael Schmudlach, Matthew Daniel Mason, Amy Lonetree and George Greendeer published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.