Spirit Catcher Workshop

Watch Suzanne Bauman’s award-winning 1977 documentary short, Spirit Catcher: The Art of Betye Saar, followed by a “show and tell' workshop exploring the intuitive processes Saar uses to create her evocative works.

Spirit Catcher explores how artist Betye Saar weaves found items such as family photographs, bones, letters, and ephemera into mystical icons that protect and awaken spiritual energies. By linking objects from her diverse Indigenous, Caribbean, Indian, African, and European ancestries to the present, she builds a line of communication from the present to the past. This “reaching back” merges with her social concerns as a Black American to offer power and protection to those who need it most.

Indigenous Art Education Coordinator Justin Bear will be hosting a circle in which you're invited to bring an item that “sings to you” and to share a bit about it. How did it come into your life? Why can't you get rid of it? What does it mean to you? This item could be a family heirloom, something you kept but you're not sure why, an object with mystical or magical significance, or just the first thing you grab on your way out the door. After sharing, we will create a Spirit Catcher altar using the objects. Altars will be photographed on Polaroids for you to take home.

"It may not be possible to convey to someone else that mysterious, transforming gift by which dreams, memory, and experience become art... but I like to think I try."

- Betye Saar