In the Footsteps of Custer: Skins Project Summer 2014

On the evening of Monday, July 7, First Nations artist Christopher Olszewski will park a 2005 Pontiac Montana in front of the museum and cover it with a vinyl car cover. Professor Olszewski, originally from Detroit, is on a journey retracing General George Custer’s life from his childhood home in Monroe, Michigan to his death in Little Big Horn, Montana. The audience is invited to draw or write on the surface, reflecting on the meaning and history of Pontiac as Native American Chief in the Great Lakes region and later appropriated by General Motors as an automobile icon. Through this project, the artist will continue to explore his theories about cultural identity and contemporary images of Native Americans.

This event is being held in collaboration with the Center for Native American Studies at NMU.