Spirit Voices: Art, Culture and Myths from the First Nations of the Northwest Coast

The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents
Joan & Paul Gluck

Spirit Voices:

Art, Culture and Myths from the First Nations of the Northwest Coast

This presentation explores the cultural and historic context of Northwest Coast Indigenous art illustrated with selected pieces from the private collection of Joan & Paul Gluck, recognized by Art and Antiques magazine as one of the top 100 art collections in America.  

The present-day artists of the Northwest Coast maintain intimate ties with earlier artistic traditions—carvers make masks based upon nineteenth century prototypes; totem poles stand proudly in Indigenous villages as well as around the world, their imagery clearly based on the beings that populated monumental carvings of earlier times.  Cultural context is therefore critical to fully understand and appreciate these creations.

Joan and Paul married as junior medical students at New York University.  On their six-week honeymoon, they logged over 7000 miles visiting National Parks and Native American sites, and were blown away by the Northwest Coast Native Art.  They splurged on their first piece, still in their collection, and began seriously researching and collecting.  Pieces from their collection were featured in the Berkshire Museum's 2016 exhibit "Finding Raven: Art and Stories from the Northwest Coast."