09/12/2022
By Deborah Santoro

Noelle Garcia' s "Material Truths"
Curated by Kirsten Swenson, Associate Professor of Art History
September 13-October 22, 2022

The UMass Lowell Department of Art & Design is honored to present Material Truths, an exhibition of work by Noelle Garcia. The exhibition will be on view from Sept. 13-Oct. 22 in the University Gallery in Mahoney Hall (870 Broadway Street, Lowell, MA). Garcia will present a lecture to the public on Tues., Sept. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in Coburn Hall room 255. A reception will follow from 5-6 p.m. in the University Gallery. These events are free, wheelchair accessible, and open to the public.

Noelle Garcia conveys personal and social narratives through “acts of making centered around exploring relationships with loved ones and Indigenous identity.” Material Truths includes beadwork, buckskin painting, ribbon “painting,” and more. While Garcia’s multimedia works draw from tradition, they also engage modernist abstraction and forms of display. Garcia’s stories often center around the life of her father, Walter Garcia, who was incarcerated for murder. The annex gallery will contain artifacts and reading materials gathered from posthumous research into her father’s life, as well as tragicomic coloring books that address generational trauma. Visitors are invited to explore personal and social histories of Indigeneity and the impacts of settler colonialism through both artworks and artifacts.

Noelle Garcia holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is a North American Indigenous artist from the Klamath, Modoc and Paiute tribes from Oregon and Nevada. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and institutions across the United States. Garcia has earned awards and fellowships from institutions including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the American Indian Graduate Center, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Ucross Foundation, and the Oxbow School. Additionally, Noelle has published multiple articles and illustrations in publications such as American Quarterly, Arts Everywhere Musagetes, as well as graphic novels. She is Assistant Professor of Humanities and Fine Arts at National Louis University in Chicago, and has taught at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, for the Chicago Arts Partnership, and at the Cook County Jail, among other institutions.

The University Gallery is accessible to all. Gallery events are free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Wilder Metered Lot, located at the intersection of Wilder Street and Bachelder Street. The entrance to the lot is located on Bachelder Street. After 4 p.m. visitors may park in any open campus lot.

Gallery Hours: Mon-Wed & Fri 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Thurs. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Sat 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Closed during school breaks.
University Gallery, Mahoney Hall, 870 Broadway St., Lowell, MA 01854
978-934-3494
Gallery Director: Deborah_Santoro@uml.edu