Early Art Designs Featured in Choctaw Cultural Center Exhibit

DURANT, Okla. – The Choctaw Cultural Center‘s newest exhibit “Bolukta: Mississippian Designs, Medallions, and Modern Choctaw Art” features recent works by Jane Semple Umsted. This exhibit allows for a closer study of the artist’s skill at creating traditional designs in the mediums of acrylics and batiks. The exhibit will open on April 16, 2024, and run through October 19, 2024, on the center’s Exhibit Wall.

Semple Umsted’s works in this exhibit show a common theme of circles and circular motifs, as referenced in the Choctaw word bolukta. Through decades of practice, she has created her own style of doing batiks, an ancient art form of dripping hot wax on cloth, then applying dye to the material to create patterns and images. While care and planning are paramount, the dyeing process of batiks can sometimes yield unexpected results. Most batiks feature abstract designs, but Semple Umsted captures figures and even portraits on her canvas in this difficult medium.

Semple Umsted is a Durant native and Choctaw artist who works in oils, acrylics, watercolor, sculpture, and batik. She is the curator of the Semple Family Museum of Native American Art at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Hours at the Choctaw Cultural Center, 1919 Hina Hanta Way in Durant, are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday. Regular admission prices apply, including complimentary admission for Choctaw tribal members and cultural center members. In addition, the Hvshi Gift Store and Champuli Café will be open.