Shan Goshorn collection

Scope and Contents

The Shan Goshorn collection includes numerous photographic materials such as prints, negatives, and slides, as well as documents, sketches, audio-visual (VHS), and born digital materials. These materials document both Shan's artistic career and her participation in Intertribal activism and Native organizations. Most of the collection spans 1980-2018, though there are some materials and documents from the late 1970s and then later materials following her death up to 2020.

Series 1: Works of art, 1976-2018, is divided into four subseries by media type. Subseries 1.1: Baskets, 2007-2018, includes Shan's full basket catalog, notes, sketches, and photographs of completed baskets, as well as early idea sketches and photographs of Shan weaving. Subseries 1.2: Photography, painting, and mixed media, 1976-2018, includes photographs and notes related to Shan's photography, paintings, and mixed media. This subseries is further divided into "Early works" from 1976-1985, and then "Individual art works" from 1985-2018. This subseries includes images of completed works and works in progress. Subseries 1.3: Commissions, 1992-2015, includes correspondence, design notes, and photographs of commissioned work completed by Shan. Subseries 1.4: Reference materials, 1977-2018, includes photographs taken by Shan and used as reference material across projects. These are divided into subject area: flora, fauna, scenery, portraits, landscapes, and still-lives. Most of the photographs are black and white 35mm negatives. Also included in this series are research documents Shan gathered around topics such as "repatriation" and "stereotypes."

Series 2: Events, 1979-2020, is divided into three subseries by event type. Subseries 2.1: "Indian Events" photographs, 1981-2001, includes thousands of black and white 35mm negatives of Native American events, mostly powwows, as labeled by Shan. Photographs from 1992 were taken specifically for a project with National Indian/Inuit Photographers' Association (NIIPA). A number of these photographs were used in documentary photo exhibits, such as "Reclaiming Cultural Ownership: Challenging Indian Stereotypes (1995)." Subseries 2.2: Gallery shows and exhibitions, 1985-2020, includes correspondence, photographs, and art show pamphlets from galleries and exhibits where Shan's art was included. Subseries 2.3: Art Markets and festivals, 1993-2017, includes clippings, pamphlets, and photographs of art markets and festivals where Shan attended and showed work such as SWAIA, and the Cherokee Art Market.

Series 3: Projects and Organizations, 1979-2018, is divided into two subseries. Subseries 3.1: General projects and organizations, 1979-2018, includes correspondence, notes and photographs related to organization and projects Shan was involved in such as the American Indian Community House, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, NIIPA, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, the Tulsa Indian Actor's Workshop, and Urban Indian 5 collective. Subseries 3.2: Fellowships, 1999-2016, includes correspondence notes and photographs related to Shan's Eiteljorg, Smithsonian, and Native Arts and Cultures fellowships.

Series 4: Subject files, 1960-2020, includes business correspondence, calendars, photo releases, and public relations materials such as resumes, artist statements and headshots. Also included in this series are materials, such as clippings and postcards, Shan gathered about other Native artists like Edgar Heap of Birds and Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, and non-Native artists like Janas and Scott Watterman.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in four series by subject matter.

Series 1: Works of art, 1976-2018, includes Subseries 1.1: Baskets, Subseries 1.2: Photography, painting, and mixed media, Subseries 1.3: Commissions, and Subseries 1.4: Reference materials. Subseries 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4 are arranged alphabetically. Subseries 1.3 is arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Events, 1979-2020, includes Subseries 2.1: "Indian Events" photographs, Subseries 2.2: Gallery shows and exhibitions, and Subseries 2.3: Art Markets and festivals. Subseries 2.1 and 2.2 are arranged chronologically and Subseries 2.3 is arranged alphabetically.

Series 3: Projects and Organizations, 1979-2018, includes Subseries 3.1: General projects and organizations and Subseries 3.2: Fellowships. These subseries' are arranged alphabetically.

Series 4: Subject files, 1960-2020, is arranged alphabetically.

Biographical / Historical

Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band of Cherokee) was born on July 3, 1957. As a child she divided her time between Baltimore, Maryland and Cherokee, North Carolina to be close to all her grandparents. During her teenage years, Shan worked for a summer at her tribe's Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual cooperative where she became familiar with leading Eastern Band Cherokee artists. Shan attended the Cleveland Institute of Art to study silversmithing but later transferred to the Atlanta College of Art where she shifted her focus to painting and photography.

In 1981 she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she established her artistic career and family life. Immersed in the intertribal environment, she attended pow-wows and Native events and continued her personal photographic record. Much of her work during the 1980s and early 1990s focused on the manipulation of black and white images through darkroom techniques and pigment applied directly to the photographs. She also supported herself by creating large abstract acrylic paintings for commissions. Much of her painting and photography addressed the multiple facets of her Native American heritage, from traditional spirituality to educating audiences about Native cultures. Some of her notable mixed media works included "Coming Into Power (1986)," "Moontime (1987)," "Honest Injun (1992)," "Earth Renewal (1996-1998)," followed by "Earth Renewal, Earth Return (2002-2003)." Shan also produced several documentary photograph exhibitions highlighting members of her tribe, such as "Reclaiming Cultural Ownership: Challenging Indian Stereotypes (1995)" and "Cherokee Voices, Cherokee Faces (2002-2003)."

In 2007, Shan taught herself how to weave in the traditional Cherokee style of the single-weave basket. Shan combined historical documents and photographs with traditional techniques and patterns to create her first basket out of paper splints in 2008 "Pieced Treaties: Spider's Web Treaty Basket." She later taught herself the more challenging double-weave process and her first double-weave basket, "Sealed Fate," was completed in 2010. Her second double-weave basket "Educational Genocide (2011)," won Best of Show at the Red Earth Indian Art show and was the first basket Shan created that touched on Indian Boarding Schools. Between 2008 and 2018, Shan wove over 230 baskets addressing issues impacting Native people, such as tribal sovereignty, gaming, repatriation, treaty violation, misappropriation of images and names, denial of religious freedom and the high rate of substance/alcohol-related suicide. One of her last works, "Resisting the Mission: Filling the Silence (2016-2018)," consisted of 14 baskets discussing the removal of Native children from their homes to attend Carlisle Indian Industrial School. This set of baskets drew from archival photographs Shan researched during her Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship and was acquired by the National Museum of the American Indian in 2019.

Over the course of her artistic career, Shan participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions all over the United States and internationally. She was a member of the Urban Indian Five, an intertribal art collective which also included Gerald Cournoyer (Oglala Lakota), Brent Greenwood (Chickasaw/Ponca), Thomas Poolaw (Kiowa), and Holly Wilson (Delaware/Cherokee). Shan was the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including the 2013 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, the 2013 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, 2013 SWAIA Discovery Fellowship, 2014 Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Artist Fellowship and the 2015 United States Artists Fellowship.

In addition to her artwork, Shan was involved in numerous inter-tribal organizations events and served on the board of directors with organizations such as the American Indian Heritage Center (OK), Native Indian/Inuit Photographer's Association (Canada), ATLATL (AZ), Indian Affairs Commission (OK), and Arts Commission of Tulsa. She also served in an advisory position for the Tulsa City/County Library for their American Indian Collection.

Shan died on December 1, 2018, from cancer. Following her passing, the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, featured Shan's art and her influence on contemporary Native women artists in their 2020 exhibit "Weaving History into Art: The Enduring Legacy of Shan Goshorn."

Related Materials

The National Museum of the American Indian has 23 works by Shan Goshorn in their Modern and Contemporary Art collection. You can view them all here through the Smithsonian Collections Search Center.

See Series 1: Works of Art for a timeline and links to individual works.