Free Day Celebrating Jeffrey Gibson’s Exhibition at the Venice Biennale

On Sunday, Nov. 24, the Portland Art Museum will host a free all-day celebration to mark the closing of Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition the space in which to place me in the U.S. Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale in Italy. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in a day of art, community, creativity, and conversations about the impact this will have on museum programs and exhibitions to come.

The Portland Art Museum has had the honor of co-presenting Gibson’s historic exhibition at the Venice Biennale—often called the Olympics of the art world—with SITE Santa Fe. Since its opening in April, nearly 450,000 visitors from around the globe have visited Gibson’s exhibition, about which The New York Times wrote, “Jeffrey Gibson’s history-making turn at the Venice Biennale brings the gay and Native American artist center stage with works of struggle and freedom.”

Kathleen Ash-Milby, PAM’s curator of Native American Art, is a commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion and curator of Gibson’s exhibition. She has worked with the artist for over 20 years and previously brought Gibson to the Portland Art Museum in 2022 to create his kaleidoscopic site-responsive exhibition They Come From Fire. Gibson, ​​a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, is the first Native American artist to represent the United States with a solo exhibition at the U.S. Pavilion, and Ash-Milby is the first Native American curator of a U.S. exhibition at the Biennale.

(Photo courtesy PAM)

Admission is free from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and activities include:

• Performances showcasing Native American dance by dancers who performed in Venice, including jingle dancer Sarah Ortegon HighWalking (Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho)
• Artmaking sessions led by Oregon educators who traveled to Venice and are developing new resources about contemporary Native American art in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.
• Talks exploring the themes and experiences of the Biennale

Anthony Hudson (also known as Portland’s beloved Native drag clown Carla Rossi) will share reflections on his time in Venice as part of the Biennale opening week, and will read from his new book Looking for Tiger Lily. PAM Curator of Native American Art Kathleen Ash-Milby will lead discussions about the experience of the Biennale with exhibition participants, offering valuable insights and fostering engaging conversations. And artist Jeffrey Gibson will make a virtual appearance as a special guest.