Gina Adams, MFA

Gina Adams is is a practicing artist and Assistant Professor of Visual Art at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She will lead an intimate artist talk in the Spencer Museum's galleries, surrounded by examples of her art work in our permanent collection. Gina will share personal stories about her grandfather's time at the Carlisle Boarding School, delving into how his educational experiences continues to shape her Native identity and artistic practice, as well as her own thoughts and observations about modern assimilation practices that Native students experience today. 

Gina's artistic work focuses on revisiting history, connecting with her ancestors, and sharing family stories, including ones involving her grandfather’s time at the Carlisle Boarding School. Her cross-media, hybrid studio practice includes sculpture, ceramics, painting, printmaking, drawing, and textiles. Gina’s work is part of the permanent collections of the North American Native Museum (Zurich, Switzerland), the Great Plains Museum (Lincoln, NE), the Spencer Museum of Art (Lawrence, KS), and the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (Santa Fe, NM). She has also exhibited extensively including exhibitions at the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), the Nerman Museum (Overland Park, KS), the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE), and the Institute of Contemporary Art (Portland, ME), among others. Adams is of Ojibwe, Lakota, Irish, and Lithuanian descent. 

Examples of Gina's work in the permanent collection of the Spencer Museum of Art

X Gina Adams (Ojibwe, Lakota, Irish, Lithuanian) born 1965, Groton, Connecticut Honoring Modern Unidentified .3, 2013 encaustic, oil, ceramic Museum purchase: Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund, 2014.0033	X Gina Adams (Ojibwe, Lakota, Irish, Lithuanian) born 1965, Groton, Connecticut Honoring Modern Unidentified .4, 2013 encaustic, oil, ceramic Museum purchase: Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund, 2014.0034	X Gina Adams (Ojibwe, Lakota, Irish, Lithuanian) born 1965, Groton, Connecticut Honoring Modern Unidentified .5, 2013 encaustic, oil, ceramic Museum purchase: Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund, 2014.0035	X Gina Adams (Ojibwe, Lakota, Irish, Lithuanian) born 1965, Groton, Connecticut Honoring Modern Unidentified .9, 2013 encaustic, oil, ceramic Museum purchase: Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund, 2014.0036
X Gina Adams (Ojibwe, Lakota, Irish, Lithuanian) born 1965, Groton, Connecticut Broken Treaty Quilt #5, 2014 cotton, calico, quilting, dyeing Museum purchase: Gift of Roger Ward, B.A. 1976 in memory of Ralph E. ("Ted") Coe; Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund, 2015.0069