KANSAS CITY, MO.- Masterworks by Plains Indian artists from before contact with Europeans to the present day are on view in a major exhibition at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City beginning Sept. 19. The Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky unites the finest Plains Indians works of art from European and North American collections, giving visitors a rare opportunity to see the objects in Kansas City.

The exhibition, curated by Gaylord Torrence, one of the nation’s leading scholars of Plains Indian art and the Fred and Virginia Merrill Senior Curator of American Indian Art at the Nelson-Atkins, opened in Paris in April and was seen by nearly 200,000 visitors. Following Kansas City, it will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from March 2 to May 10, 2015.

“The enormous popularity of this exhibition in Paris speaks to the power and beauty of these objects, and the fascination for this culture,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Nelson-Atkins. “We have a geographic advantage in Kansas City because we are so close to the Great Plains where these incredible objects were created. We are also building on the legacy of Sacred Circles, the seminal exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins in 1977 that generated new understanding of the artistry of Native Americans.”

The Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky brings together Plains Indian masterworks, from pre-contact to contemporary, ranging from a 2,000- year-old Human Effigy stone pipe to 18th-century painted robes to a 2014 beaded adaptation of designer shoes. Works of art collected centuries ago by French traders and travelers will be seen together with those acquired by Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition of 1804-06, along with objects from the early reservation era and contemporary works based in traditional forms and ideas. Many of the objects are being seen in the U.S. for the first time.

The distinct Plains aesthetic – singular, ephemeral and materially rich – is revealed through an array of forms and media: painting and drawing; sculptural works in stone, wood, antler and shell; porcupine quill and glass bead embroidery; feather work; painted robes depicting figures and geometric shapes; richly ornamented clothing; composite works; and ceremonial objects. Many Nations are represented – Osage, Quapaw, Omaha, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Lakota, Blackfeet, Pawnee, Kiowa, Comanche, Mesquakie, Kansa and others. Objects will travel from France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada and the United States.

To celebrate and announce this historic exhibition, numerous tipis have been placed at locations around Kansas City, including on the south lawn of the museum, to commemorate the nomadic lives of early Plains peoples. The Plains Indian tipi is a classic architectural form, both beautiful and functional. It is one of the finest portable dwellings ever created and supported lives on horseback in pursuit of the buffalo.

“This exhibition is a beautiful way to pass our Native American culture, tradition and language on to our young children,” said Manny King, Student Development and Activities Coordinator at Haskell University. “I was very impressed when I saw the beautiful tipis on the lawn at the Nelson-Atkins–it touched my heart. I would encourage everyone to come and enjoy this exhibition and feel the energy and spirit of the Plains Indians.”

“Plains peoples traditionally lived in the land, not on it,” said Torrence. “Their art expresses personal and cultural histories, mythologies and religious beliefs, and these cannot be separated from the natural world. All came from the land—North America’s Great Plains—with its abundance of life forms and natural phenomena.”

The works in the exhibition reflect the significant place that Plains Indian culture holds in European history and in the heritage of North America. They convey the continuum of hundreds of years of artistic tradition, maintained against the backdrop of monumental cultural change.

“A powerful sense of place is embodied in Plains art,” said Torrence. “In its varied forms and materials, as well expressed beliefs and concepts, the works are representations of the Great Plains of North America. It is important for these objects to be seen here in Kansas City on the eastern Plains. We must remind ourselves as well that Kansas City was once the heart of French America—and Plains peoples and the French have a shared history here.”

A group of nine videos commissioned by the Nelson-Atkins accompanies the exhibition. Most were produced by Dylan McLaughlin, a Native American who lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A number of the videos are conversations with Native American artists featured in the exhibition, and these videos present their work, inspiration and history. A scholar and curator were interviewed in the remaining two videos; all are played on a loop in the last room of the exhibition, giving visitors the chance to hear Native American voices discuss their heritage and culture. Additionally, all of the videos can be viewed on the Nelson-Atkins website.

The exhibition was conceived by Stéphane Martin, President of Quai Branly, who traveled to the United States in 2010 to explore the idea. He visited the new and highly acclaimed American Indian galleries at the Nelson-Atkins and invited Torrence to curate the exhibition. When the Metropolitan Museum agreed to be the third venue, the tour was complete.

“European museum curators expressed desire for the rare, early Plains Indian works of art in their holdings to be exhibited in America,” said Torrence. “They particularly wanted Native American descendants of the artists to experience their ancestor’s remarkable creations.”