Search

A concrete cantilevered building against blue sky and green landscaping

A large green wall with oil paintings in gold frames above a tiled floor

A museum interior space with paintings and concrete walls and stairs

A concrete-walled lobby with windows, a tiled floor, and a circular desk

The top of a concrete spiral staircase with a wooden railing

A tall tree is the focal point of a garden in between two concrete buildings

About arrow_back

Admission for everyone is always free! Check here for current hours and more.

A concrete cantilevered building against blue sky and green landscaping

Collections arrow_back

The Johnson Museum holds more than 40,000 works in its collection from around the world.

A large green wall with oil paintings in gold frames above a tiled floor

Exhibitions arrow_back

Check out what’s on view this season at the Museum and look back through our history.

A museum interior space with paintings and concrete walls and stairs

Events arrow_back

Free events for everyone, plus special programs for students, families, and more!

A concrete-walled lobby with windows, a tiled floor, and a circular desk

Learn arrow_back

The Johnson Museum actively contributes to the intellectual life of our campus and community.

The top of a concrete spiral staircase with a wooden railing

Support arrow_back

Help the Johnson Museum continue its legacy by making a gift today.

A tall tree is the focal point of a garden in between two concrete buildings

73 of 231

Jolene Rickard

(Skarù:rę?́ / Tuscarora, born 1956)

. . . the sky is darkening . . . coming home . . .

View All Works

Object Details

Artist

Jolene Rickard

Date

2018–21

Medium

Installation: digital print and beaded birds made of glass beads and card stock liner with batten stuffing and fabric

Collaborating artists: Janice Smith (Skarù:rę?́ / Tuscarora, born 1961)
Anita Greene (Skarù:rę?́ / Tuscarora, born 1961)
and Anita Ferguson (Skarù:rę?́ / Tuscarora, born 1975)

Credit Line

Acquired through the John H. Burris, Class of 1954, FundSpecial thanks to the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates for permission to document the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2018

Object
Number

2021.057 a-i

This installation references the extinction through hunting of the Passenger Pigeon—a bird once so(…)

This installation references the extinction through hunting of the Passenger Pigeon—a bird once so numerous in North America that its migrating flocks would sometimes blot out the sun for days. The photographic panels of the work show specimens from the Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. The work addresses not only the extinction of the passenger pigeon but also the species of tree it favored, a majestic variety of American Chestnut effectively wiped out by an insect-borne fungal blight accidentally introduced by Japanese chestnut trees around 1900.

The beaded birds here celebrate the practice of Haudenosaunee beadwork—a hallmark of their culture and economic resilience for centuries. Each beaded bird is made by a different Haudenosaunee beadwork artist; as such, each represents a distinct family line and personal style. The six birds stand for the six nations of the confederacy.

Since the last passenger pigeon died in 1914, Haudenosaunee social dances were expanded to include a commemorative pigeon dance, acknowledging loss and the cyclical nature of life, but also indicating the bird’s resilience in collective memory. In Rickard’s work, this commemoration connects to both the eighteenth century dispossession of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫ (Cayuga) people at the hands of the Colonial government, and the current reclamation of and return to Gayogo̱hó:nǫ ancestral lands.

(Text by Andrew C. Weislogel for the exhibition “Art and Environmental Struggle,” presented at the Johnson Museum August 26–December 14, 2021.)

Discover More

Create an account

Please take a moment to fill your information to create your account.

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password.

Save Artwork

Save the artwork in any of your exhibitions or create a new one.

You have not made any exhibitions.

Create New Exhibition

Create New Exhibition