Ohio State is in the process of revising websites and program materials to accurately reflect compliance with the law. While this work occurs, language referencing protected class status or other activities prohibited by Ohio Senate Bill 1 may still appear in some places. However, all programs and activities are being administered in compliance with federal and state law.

General Report on Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifact Collection 2019-2020 and use of Whitten Funds

General Report on Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifact Collection 2019-2020 and use of Whitten Funds

If you'd like to access the report in pdf format, please click here.

General Report on Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifact Collection 2019-2020 and use of Whitten Funds

Prepared by Michelle Wibbelsman, Associate Professor of Latin American Indigenous Cultures and Lead Co-PI, K’acha Willaykuna Collaboration Whitten Funds and the K’acha Willaykuna proposal and grant

The most significant use of Whitten Funds in 2019-2020 was as counterpart for the K’acha Willaykuna Andean and Amazonian Arts and Humanities Collaboration proposal, a grant we were successful in securing from the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme. Uniquely aligned with the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifact Collection, the GAH grant brings together a group of eight outstanding Co-PIs invested in various aspects of Andean and Amazonian indigenous arts and humanities. The K’acha Willaykuna project addresses five key areas to enrich and amplify the impact of initiatives at Ohio State, while contributing to new institutional pathways of mobility for inclusion of Indigenous partners:

  1. Indigenous artist and artisan short-term residencies and consultancies
  2. Teaching collaborations and teaching clusters, curriculum development, and student engagement
  3. Indigenous arts and humanities legacy preservation, knowledge equity and digital humanities
  4. Graduate and undergraduate research and student engagement
  5. Outreach and public engagement

In summer 2020, the K’acha Willaykuna project was approached by the Red de Artistas Interculturales Communitarios del Ecuador, a network of Andean artists, for institutional support under a broader $100,000 UNESCO grant competition. Whitten Funds, by way of CLAS and the K’acha Willaykuna project, will support this request and collaboration.

Four student curators in autumn 2019 and spring 2020 semesters did outstanding work with the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Collection. They are Elaine Louden (louden.30@osu.edu), Brandon D'Souza (dsouza.80@osu.edu), Jenna Mayeres (mayeres.3@osu.edu) and Frances Dillon (dillon.398@osu.edu).In addition, undergraduate Bryce Wagner (computer programming) and grad students Anna Freeman (AAEP), Jessica Pissini (AAEP), and Alana Radlo Dzur (History of Art) joined our regular discussions.

Autumn 2019 semester presentations

  • Humanities Institute CHiP ‒ Presentation of Collection and student curator work for Director David Staley
  • Indigenous People's Day ‒ Pop-up panels presentation by student curators in collaboration with MMI Discovery Theme "Movable Subjects Week" (100+ people in attendance)
  • Presentation and brainstorming with ACCAD VR team and student curators
  • Quechua Alliance Meeting ‒ Pop-up panels presentation by student curators
  • K'acha Willaykuna indigenous artist residency AU 2019 tour and conversation between visiting indigenous artist Sebastián Calfuqueo Aliste, student curators and general public (20+ people in attendance)

Spring 2020 semester presentations

  • One Community Conference – “Portals to the Past and Present: Instructional Pedagogy with Primary Sources”. Presentation was based on AAAC collection items and items from the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. This conference targets K-12 audiences (students, parents, educators). The 2020 conference had over 350 participants.
    • Faculty collaboration: Michelle Wibbelsman (SPPO), Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros (Latin American Librarian), Stephanie Porrata (Latin American Librarian), Eric Johnson (Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarian).
    • In addition to our presentation, OSU Librarian, Stephanie Porrata, developed a Library Research Guide to support and document the event.
  • CLAS K-12 Teachers Workshop – “How the calabacita tallada transformed our teaching and learning about Latin America”. Attended by 20+ K-12 teachers. Materials from the workshop were integrated into the CLAS K-12 resources online portal.
    • Faculty collaboration: Michelle Wibbelsman (SPPO) and Anne Hidalgo (OSU Libraries Educational Resources).

Student projects under Independent Studies (research no thesis option) autumn and spring semesters

  • Elaine Louden developed our website in consultation with Eva Dale at ASC Tech. This was the most significant accomplishment of 2019-2020. Development of the site continues in progress.
  • Jenna Mayeres catalogued new items (photographing them with the help of Abhijit Varde ASC Tech set up but not completed due to HH flood circumstances)
  • Brandon D'Souza worked on a new interactive feature for the Canelos Quichua ceramics collection. He plans to continue working on this project for his Undergraduate Thesis. An undergraduate research collaboration emerged with Bryse Wagner (a programming student interested in indigenous cultures – one of Daniel River's students) and graduate research collaborations with Jessica Pissini in the Dept. of Arts Admin, Ed and Policy and Anna Freeman in the Dept. of Arts Admin, Ed and Policy emerged.
  • Frances Dillon worked in close consultation with Elvia Andia on how to integrate Quechua language into our exhibit information, displays and website in useful non-tokenizing ways.
  • Anna Freeman, grad student in AAEP who participated in the K’acha Willaykuna Decolonial Reading group, tackled write up of Sebastián Calfuqueo Alistes talks and performances (visiting artist residency for the K’acha Willaykuna project). Several student curators participated in cleaning a series of diablada masks, donated by OSU alumnus Mark Gordon, and preparing them for display for an exhibit and panel discussion at the Thompson Library scheduled in spring 2020. Unfortunately, this event was postponed due to suspension of public events during the global pandemic. The event is rescheduled for 2021 pending reopening of the university.

In addition to Independent Studies students, the following students, staff and professors contributed to the collection and offshoot projects:

  • Alana Radlo Dzur, History of Art grad student, was GRA for the K’acha Willaykuna project and attended our regular curator sessions, adding significant insight from her area of specialization in History of Art. Alana also invited me on to her Candidacy Exams committee and worked on reading lists related to Andean and Amazonian art.
  • Leigh Loomis (ACCAD grad student), Lakshika Udakandage (ACCAD support) and Professor Kyoung Swearingen (ACCAD) continued to work with me and student curators on the Sumac Puringashpa Andean and Amazonian Virtual Reality project In autumn 2019. We supported this work by way of a $2,500 contribution from the Whitten Fund by way of the K’acha Willaykuna project. We leveraged these funds for additional financial support from ACCAD for a GRA support (at least three times the amount of our contribution to the project).
  • Leonardo Carrizo, Communications Department instructor and photographer for National Geographic, photographed diablada masks donated in spring 2020 for a photographic exhibit at a public library in Cleveland, scheduled for spring 2020 and postponed until further notice. Photographs will be added to the AAAC catalogue and website.
  • Professor Jeremy Patterson (ACCAD) has agreed to support Brandon D’Souzas’ digital interactive program toward development of an online app. By way of this research and project work, Professor Patterson also comes into the fold of Brandon’s undergraduate thesis committee.

Four Whitten Fund scholarships in the amount of $400 were awarded to undergraduate students in AU 2019:

  1. Elaine Louden
  2. Jenna Mayeres
  3. Brandon D’Souza
  4. Frances Dillon

Support from Whitten Funds also contributed to bringing Sebastián Calfuqueo Aliste, visiting Mapuche artist for the K’acha Willaykuna Artist Residency in autumn 2020. During spring 2020, Hagerty Hall 255, where our collection resides, suffered a water leak and flooding. Curators helped remove items from vitrines and put them in safe storage. Fortunately, none of the collection items nor the display cabinets were damaged during the water leak. The incident provided an opportunity to advocate for proper storage space. SPPO came through with storage space and proper storage cabinets, paid for by the department.

The pop-up exhibit remained in storage at OSU in spring 2020. During this time, curators addressed repairs and troubleshooting to make sure the panels exhibit is ready to go back out on tour to institutions probably in spring 2021, when public events open up again once COVID-19 precautions lift.