New Acquisition: Marlowe Katoney's "Survivor"

Thanks to two big-hearted donors, we're delighted to announce the latest addition to the UAMA permanent collection — Marlowe Katoney's Survivor: An American Experience.

This powerful work was featured in the recent UAMA exhibition Pulse: Weavings & Paintings by Marlowe Katoney. When the exhibition ended in March, lenders Jim Hutson-Wiley and Olga Echevarria generously decided to donate it to UAMA.

The weaving depicts a survivor of what is now called the Long Walk, when the U.S. Army forcibly removed more than 10,000 Diné from their homelands in the mid-1800s and made them march over 300 miles to desolate, unfarmable land in New Mexico. The displaced people suffered immense hardships, including disease and starvation.

The elder is portrayed in black and white to symbolize his near brush with death, while the colorful patterns around him represent rainbows — regarded as symbols of protection in Diné culture.

Marlowe Katoney, Survivor: An American Experience, c. 2012, Wool, aniline dyes, vegetal dyes, Gift of Jim Hutson-Wiley & Olga Echevarria, 2024