INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — A longtime member of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis has helped establish a new fund for acquisitions, including a glass sculpture and a painting from renowned artists.
A $3.74 million estate gift from longtime supporter Ellen M. Reed will go toward the new fund. Reed died in 2024 at age 93 after being a devoted museum member for 35 years and a volunteer for 18 years.
The museum has already used the fund to purchase "The Three Graces," an acrylic painting by First Nations contemporary artist Kent Monkman. From the ocekwi sipiy (Fisher River Cree Nation), the acclaimed contemporary multimedia artist from Canada creates works that reinterpret Eurocentric art history to include First Nations perspectives.
Alongside Monkman's painting, for visitor awareness, is a photograph of the 1500s Italian Renaissance painting "The Three Graces" by Raphael. A news release issued Tuesday from the museum said, "In Monkman’s bold depiction, his Three Graces are contemporary Indigenous/Native women, representing women who may be mothers, aunties or friends."
The 2017 Monkman painting is on view in the Innovation section of the Eiteljorg’s Native American Galleries exhibition, called Expressions of Life: Native Art in North America, the release said.
Later this month, the museum's board plans to acquire a piece by renowned glass sculptor Dale Chihuly.
Chihuly has two sculptures installed in Indianapolis: Fireworks of Glass at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and DNA Tower at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Two other Chihuly sculptures in Indiana are installed southeast of Indianapolis in the city of Columbus: the Yellow Neon Chandelier and Persians at the Columbus Area Visitors Center, and Sun Garden Panels in Suspended Circle at the Columbus Learning Center.
Based in Seattle, Chihuly has had a long involvement with Native artists in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. He established the first glassblowing studio at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle.
Reed had admired Chihuly's work, and her gift stipulated that the Eiteljorg acquire one of his pieces, the release said.
Reed's gift includes $1.7 million for immediate art purchases and $2 million for an endowed fund, with investment earnings supporting future acquisitions while the principal remains intact.
