The Bison: American Icon Opens at Symphony in the Flint Hills in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas

Photo from <http://www.konza.ksu.edu/keep/sci_adventures/bison/1_bison.htm>

The Bison: American Icon will be on exhibit from June 18 through August 10, 2013 with a special preview during the weekend of the rodeo June 6-8. Hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Symphony in the Flint Hills, Inc., is located at 331 Broadway, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.  Call 620-273-8955 for more information.

The following is the extremely informative press release form Sandy Dorsey.

Cottonwood Falls, Kan. – Few animals conjure the power and symbolic presence of the North American bison. Whether painted on a tipi or an artist’s canvas, minted on a nickel, or seen grazing in Yellowstone National Park, the image of the bison stirs in us deep loyalties to the North American landscape. Wild and fundamental, the bison is a familiar part of our shared heritage. 

The Bison: American Icon, a new exhibition opening June 18 at Symphony in the Flint Hills, Inc., explores the meaning and significance of this iconic creature from the Plains Indian culture of the 1800s through the commercial and national symbol of the present. Along the way, The Bison charts the dramatic changes that occurred to the creature and its habitat, and to the people who depended on it for their daily existence.

The exhibition opens with a primary mystery: For thousands of years until the early 1860s, there were tens of millions of bison roaming the plains of North America. By 1890, there were fewer than 300.  What happened? Centered on this question, The Bison explores the “before” and “after” of the bison’s dramatic decline. It also shows how the bison’s seeming extinction was ultimately averted by conservationists. In charting this positive outcome, the exhibition explores the many ways that the bison’s identity was transformed yet again into a symbol of America and a popular image.

Symphony in the Flint Hills, Inc., has partnered with Chase County organizations to provide several activities on July 6, during The Bison Grand Opening.  The public is invited to spend the day in the Flint Hills enjoying free community events on Saturday, July 6.  At 1:30 p.m. at Pioneer Bluffs near Matfield Green, Mary Buster will portray Florella Brown Adair in a first-person performance about life in the midst of the Civil War. In the performance, Adair will share family stories of her brother, John Brown, and of the dangerous times for abolitionists that define "Bleeding Kansas." Buster is Adair's great-great-granddaughter; the events in her performance are drawn from Adair's letters passed down through the family. At Symphony in the Flint Hills, Inc., Annie Wilson and The Tallgrass Express will perform from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

The Bison: American Icon will be on exhibit from June 18 through August 10, 2013 with a special preview during the weekend of the rodeo June 6-8. Hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Symphony in the Flint Hills, Inc., is located at 331 Broadway, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.  Call 620-273-8955 for more information.

About The Bison: American Icon

The Bison: American Icon has been made possible by NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The exhibit was originally developed by the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, and co-curated by Anne Morand and Dr. Lynne Spriggs. This exhibit is toured by Mid-America Arts Alliance through NEH on the Road. NEH on the Road offers an exciting opportunity for communities of all sizes to experience some of the best exhibitions funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Mid-America Arts Alliance was founded in 1972 and is the oldest regional nonprofit arts organization in the United States. For more information, visit www.maaa.org or www.nehontheroad.org.