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TOY STORIES: ITC exhibit spans 300 years of Texas playthings

01.01.70

The doll in Sarah Gould 's hands tells a representation.

At first it's Little Red Riding Hood, ready for that vacation to Grandma's house. Then with a half-spin and a full flick of its long skirt, it turns into Red's grandmother. A tug on Grandma's nightcap then swallows her grin to reveal the fiendish face of the Big Bad Wolf.

Such topsy-turvy dolls phase back to before the Civil War, when a white doll on one end usually hid a black doll on the other and sinfulness versa. But for Gould there's yet another tale behind her storybook doll.

“My grandmother made this for me,” she says.

Gould's doll is by a hair's breadth one of many storied playthings on display at “Abiding Texas Toys,” a new exhibit at the Establish of Texan Cultures . The walk-in toy box remains air through Aug. 5, 2012.

“Timeless Texas Toys” showcases handmade and manufactured toys of yesteryear. Most conclude from the early- to mid-20th century, though among the china dolls and toy cars you'll also find stone event discs from Mission Espada that predate its 1690 founding and a typescript doll illustration of that 21st-century sensation Beyoncé.

Source: San Antonio Express

Cultural celebration honors Native American Heritage Month

01.01.70

Syracuse, NY -- Native American artist Monica Antone-Watson uses her artwork to send a withdraw message: We are still here.

“People don’t believe we be present anymore, but we do,” said Antone-Watson, a associate of the Wolf Clan for the Mohawk Nation. “We’re still here.”

Antone-Watson, who lives on the Oneida Indian Political entity, said she uses her crafts and projects to drill the community about Native Americans. She will be showing and selling her labour at the Spirit of the Harvest Cultural Celebration Saturday at Onondaga Community College. The college is hosting the experience as part of Native American Heritage Month.

“Being so close to the Onondaga and on ancestral lands, this at any rate is so important for our students,” said Eileen Ryan, an adjunct professor for the college.

Ryan enlisted the eschew of Tracy Thomas, a Mohawk woodworker who has organized several guile festivals over the past 15 years. The carnival will feature food, entertainment and 25 Native American artists selling and showing their crafts.

Source: Syracuse.com