On Saturday, March 9th at 12pm, there will be a Gallery Opening Reception for “Protecting Mother Earth,” the latest art exhibit at The Muckenthaler Cultural Center.

Curated by Native American artist Rowan Harrison, “Protecting Mother Earth” brings together a group of over a dozen artists from the Native American community, including Corey Stein, Corina Roberts, Maree Cheatham, Gail Werner, Terry Flores, C. M. Scott, Valena Dismukes, Eric Tippeconnic, Nadia Reed, Peggy Fontenot, Laurie Steelink, Nadia LittleWarrior, Zoe Urness, Randy Kemp, and Sheridan Macknight.

“Since before the arrival of the Europeans and colonialism, Indigenous people have been the caretakers and the recipients of our blessed Mother Earth in the western hemisphere. Native people across the North American continent and abroad have been using the resources of our Mother Earth in sustaining their community, religion, welfare, culture, and their way of life for thousands of years. This relationship between the people and Mother Earth has been, and is today, a relationship predicated on respect, protectionism, conservationism, understanding, and religious observance,” writes curator Rowan Harrison, who will also exhibit ceramic works in the show.

Harrison laments that the rise of environmental awareness and activism have not kept up with the “catastrophic pace” of industry, technology, rampant urbanization, globalization and extraction and utilization of natural resources.

“Issues of the environment have been lectured about and debated on many platforms outside the Native American realm, but it is Indigenous people who have a keen insight into and a unique relationship with Mother Earth that can be traced back through their ancestors, the original custodians and its beneficiaries of Mother Earth,” said Harrison.

A free gallery tour with the curator and some of the exhibition’s artists will be held on Thursday, March 28, 6:30 p.m. Protecting Mother Earth will be on exhibit through April 28. The exhibit is supported by Blick ART Materials.

The Muckenthaler Cultural Center is located at 1201 W Malvern Ave, Fullerton, CA 92833. Visit www.themuck.org for more information.