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Monticello to display Queen's sculptures

By Rose Hooper
sculpter Joel Queen of Whittier sculpted this 17-inch high sandstone reproduction of a mortuary figure from the Mississippian Period (1400-1600), which goes on display in January as part of the "Framing the West at Monticello: Thomas Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition" exhibit at Monticello. Every now and then, as he tossed a nickel in a handful of change, Joel Queen glanced at Monticello on the back of the coin. He never thought that one day his work would be on display at Thomas Jefferson's famous home.

Queen, who lives in Whittier, was commissioned to reproduce two sandstone artifacts to be placed on permanent display in Jefferson's Indian Hall. Queen's sculptures are part an exhibit titled "Framing the West at Monticello: Thomas Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition," which goes on display Jan. 16.

The exhibition will approximate the appearance of Jefferson's Indian Hall circa 1807-09, when he displayed natural history specimens and Native American objects sent, or brought back, by members of the expedition.

"Each piece in the exhibit has a story behind it," said Queen, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. "In 1829, the year after Jefferson died at age 83, his household furnishing were sold at a public sale to pay off his debts. Some of the works in this new exhibit are the actual pieces that have surfaced over the years."

Queen's works, however, reproduce mortuary figures dating back to the late Mississippian Period (1400-1600). The 17-inch high figures were found in a grave in the 1800s when a Tennessee farmer plowed them up in his fields.

When Elizabeth Chew, Monticello's associate curator of collections and curator of the exhibition, contacted fellow Chapel Hill alumnus Kay Sharpe about a Cherokee artist to reproduce the artifacts, Sharpe recommended Queen.

"When I was first contacted about the project, I was a little scared, but I knew I could do it," said Queen, who completed both pieces in two months.

"Thank goodness for modern technology. I couldn't have rubbed those pieces into shape in 10 years, but I used a diamond disk and it made the work easier," said Queen, who used sandstone from Fontana.

As part of the opening ceremonies, Queen has also been invited to give a lecture on Cherokee art to school children. And he may get to meet President Bush, who is expected to make an appearance at the exhibit Jan. 18.

The exhibit will offer a look at the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the lens of Jefferson's vision and stewardship, according to Chew. Jefferson's motivation for the expedition was the extension of trade across the American continent, including with Indian tribes, and searching for a river passage to the Pacific Ocean.

Exactly 200 years later, on Jan. 18, 2003, the exhibit will be unveiled to launch the bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The exhibit at Jefferson's mountaintop home in Virginia continues throughout 2003.

Meanwhile Queen has a one-man pottery show "People of Fire" on exhibit at Western Carolina University's Chelsea Gallery.

An art major at WCU, Queen is at the forefront of the revival of traditional Cherokee pottery. As a member of the pottery-making Bigmeat family, he has worked with the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, the N.C. Arts Council and Kellogg Foundation to recreate the technology and patterning of the ancient pottery, as well as continuing the tradition with his own design.

His WCU exhibit continues through Friday, Dec. 13.

Back to Archive: 12/06/02.