This weekend, the Brunnier Art Museum held an informational tour of Will Wilson’s “In Conversation” exhibit, which features photographs of Native Americans.

Wilson was born into the Navajo tribe and was inspired to become an artist by a man named Edward Curtis. 

Curtis was an artist who tried to capture the life of Native Americans around North America through his “The North American Indian” project that went on from 1907 to the 1930s. Although Curtis told the public that his goal was to capture the reality of Native Americans, he often put his own props into the pictures and made his subjects wear certain things that did not exactly relate to their culture.

When these photographs were released to the public, they were very romanticized and stereotypical. Since Wilson was originally born into a Native American tribe, he saw these pictures and decided to take back his people’s culture by redoing the project and making it more realistic.

This exhibition not only had plenty of amazing stories, but the portraits also included augmented reality. There was an app that guests could download on their phones and look with their cameras. After that, you would hold your phone up to the picture, and the subject would start telling you their story, dancing or playing music. 

These photographs of Native Americans very intensely depict the lives of these indigenous groups across North America. This is not the only time for students to experience this art, as Wilson will be coming to the Brunnier Art Museum in April to do some live photographs for anyone wanting to watch. 

The Brunnier Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The exhibit will also be kept in the museum until May 4. 

See other exhibitions, tours and museum hours here.