MUSCATINE, Iowa–In recognition of Native American Heritage Month in November 2022, Muscatine Art Center Registrar Virginia Cooper felt the time right to put the Art Center’s McKenny and Hall portraits on display. “We have them out often,” she shared: “People ask to see these. People who know we have them in our collection ask us to get them out because they’re historically important and visually stimulating.”

A unique collection of prints, the art comes from the book “Indian Tribes of North America” which features life portraits of Native American leaders in ceremonial dress painted by Charles Bird King and other artists over a period of about 25 in the mid 1800s. Because a fire at the Smithsonian Institute in 1865 destroyed the original paintings, the prints at the Muscatine Art Center and other locations across the country have grown extremely valuable. The Muscatine Art Center acquired them at the urging of a former board member, who Cooper noted, “over the years, he made sure he followed through and got all the ones that were appropriate.” The Muscatine Art Center’s collection features leaders from the Chippewa, Fox, Iowa, Otoe, and Sauk tribes, which historically lived in eastern Iowa as well as surrounding midwestern states.

With the portraits hanging in the second floor hall of the Musser Mansion and the galleries open on both sides, Cooper saw it as an ideal time to put some of the Muscatine Art Center’s Native American artifacts on display as well. During roadwork on Highway 61 in 1998, archeological excavation at Eisele Hill uncovered many artifacts from very early Native American settlements there. After the Muscatine Art Center exhibited some of these artifacts, interest in Muscatine’s Native American history grew, leading the Muscatine Art Center to acquire more items that tell that story.” We have a lot more pieces related to Native Americans, but each piece has a specific history to it,” Cooper explained. From a large selection of early maps showing where different Native American Tribes lived at different times, to paintings and drawings from many time periods, to physical items donated from the families of early Muscatine settlers who had contact with Native American tribes, the Muscatine Art Center has quite a variety of items on display. “This is the tip of the iceberg for our Native American collection,” Cooper said.

With more cold weather ahead for Muscatine County, a trip to the Muscatine Art Center offers an enjoyable and educational way to spend an afternoon inside. Both the Native American portraiture and artifacts will remain on display at the Muscatine Art Center, located at 1314 Mulberry Ave in Muscatine, through March 5. Cooper invites everyone to come explore it and discover more about Muscatine’s history. “I’d come for two reasons; to see the art work because it’s incredible and as a teaching tool for the past.”