WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian will open a sweeping retrospective of Ho-Chunk artist Truman Lowe’s work this fall, marking the first major exhibition devoted to the late sculptor whose ethereal wood and natural-material installations captured the movement of water and memory of homeland.
Titled “Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe,” the exhibition opens Oct. 24 at the museum’s Washington, D.C., location and will run through January 2027. Featuring nearly 50 sculptures, drawings and paintings, the show traces Lowe’s five-decade career and his deep connection to the waterways and woodlands of Wisconsin where he was raised.
“Truman Lowe’s art reflects on the waters and woodlands of his home, as well as family and cultural traditions, memory and knowledge,” said curator Rebecca Head Trautmann. “We are excited to share his work and his story with our visitors.”
The exhibition is organized around four themes — Moving Water, The Land Holds Memory, Woodland Structures, and Memory and Shared Knowledge — each exploring how Lowe’s art intertwined nature, culture, and history. His signature willow and feather sculptures evoke the flow of rivers and the canoes that traverse them, while his drawings and installations reflect ancestral Ho-Chunk traditions and family narratives.
Lowe, who died in 2019, was both a pioneering artist and influential museum curator. He taught sculpture for 35 years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and served as the founding curator of contemporary art at the National Museum of the American Indian, where he helped elevate Indigenous voices in modern art. His alma mater, the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, later honored him with the Truman T. Lowe Center for the Arts.
The Smithsonian exhibition brings together pieces from public and private collections, including 28 from the museum’s own holdings. Works such as “Ottawa” (1992), “Feather Canoe” (1996), and “Waterfall VIII” (2011) showcase Lowe’s distinctive use of wood and organic materials to mirror the natural rhythms of the environment.
To celebrate the opening, curator Rebecca Trautmann will lead a public tour on Oct. 25, followed by a discussion with Lowe’s daughter, Tonia Lowe, and Anishinaabe sculptor Michael Belmore.
A fully illustrated catalog, also titled Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe, accompanies the exhibition and features essays by scholars and artists reflecting on Lowe’s influence and the enduring legacy of the Ho-Chunk people.
The exhibition is supported by Bank of America, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, Ameriprise Financial, and individual donors.
The Smithsonian museums and National Zoo remain open through at least Oct. 11 despite the ongoing federal government shutdown, the institution confirmed.
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