BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Pecore Weso is an artist, writer, and educator living in Lawrence, Kansas. He has shown in group and solo shows at the Percolator Gallery, Haskell Cultural Center, University of Kansas, Longview Community College, and other venues. Artworks are in collections in Arizona, California, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, D.C., & Wisconsin. His art has been used for book covers of writers Diane Glancy, Denise Low, and Jonathan Holden, among others. He completed a degree at Haskell Indian Nations University and BA and MA degrees at the University of Kansas. He participates in art shows and sells his work from his studio. He is co-publisher of Mammoth Publications, an independent literary press. His publications are in Mid-America Folklore Journal, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Overland Review, and others. He has taught social sciences at Kansas City Metro Community Colleges, Avila University, and Haskell.
STATEMENT: THOMAS PECORE WESO
My art is influenced by my outlook as a Menominee Indian. I grew up surrounded by the rich artistic tradition of my family in northern Wisconsin. Grandfather Moon Wesho and Uncle Monroe (Buddy) Weso were my first instructors in wood carving, drawing, plant lore, and spirituality. This Woodlands cultural background influences my artistic choice of vivid palette and balance of plant-derived designs against a background that reverses into foreground. This dynamism is apparent in a sequence of drawings and paintings set in the Arizona desert north of Phoenix. In 2005 I was affected by drives through Bloody Basin Road, Superstition Mountain, and the Apache Trail. These continue to resonate in my paintings. I do not feel limited by any one landscape, yet there always is a landscape in my personal narration. My degree in anthropology gave me the opportunity to study cross-culturally among Native peoples. A variety of images appear in my works, but the color green is consistent—the color of the Menominee County forest.
LINKS
http://www.mammothpublications.com/gpage1.html
http://tomweso.com
http://tomweso.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/hello-world/
ARTIST RESUME
THOMAS FRANCIS PECORE WESO
1916 Stratford Rd., Lawrence, Kansas 66044 tomweso@msn.com
Enrolled member of Menominee Nation of Wisconsin
Paintings, Wood Carving, & Drawings in private collections in Arizona, California, Kansas, Missouri, Washington, D.C., & Wisconsin
EDUCATION
M.A., University of Kansas, Indigenous Nations Studies; B.G.S., University of Kansas, Cultural Anthropology; A.A., Haskell Indian Nations University
ART EXHIBITS
+Percolator Gallery, Lawrence, Nov. 2008, one-man exhibit
+Longview Literary Festival, Sept. 2008, display of photography & drawings
+Haskell Library, April 2007, Native Professors Conference group show
+Haskell Cultural Center, Oct. 2006, one-man show, drawings & acrylic paintings
+La Prima Tazza, June 2006, one-man exhibit, drawings & acrylic paintings
+University of Kansas, April 2006, Native Professors Conference group show
EMPLOYMENT
+Educational Researcher, Haskell Indian Nations University, 2009-2010
+Adjunct Professor of Social Sciences, Kansas City Metropolitan Community College. 2004-2009
+Instructor of Social Sciences, Haskell Indian Nations University 2002-2003
+Faculty Research Archivist, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1994-1995
+Historical Librarian & Archivist, Menominee Nation Library, Keshena, 1992
PUBLICATIONS: Personal Essays
+“Flight.” Philip W. Whitcomb Memorial Essays. Reprint. Lawrence: University of Kansas Honors Program, 2008. 23-8.
+“A Family History of the Wetlands.” The Wakarusa Wetlands in Word & Image. Lawrence: Imagination & Place, 2005.
+“Death on the Reservation.” Show + Tell: A Celebration of Art. Kansas City: Potpourri and Kansas City Artists Coalition.
+“Flight.” Flint Hills Review 2 (1997): 53-57.
PUBLICATIONS: Academic
+“The Evolutionary Narrative of the Pawnee Nation.” Overland Journal (formerly Mid-America Folklore Journal) 34.1 (May 2007): 55-76.
+Langston Hughes in Lawrence: Photographs and Biographical Resources. With Denise Low. Lawrence: Mammoth Publications, 2004.
+“From Delirium to Coherence: Shamanism and Medicine Plants in Silko’s Ceremony.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal (UCLA) 28 1 (2004): 53-65.
+“Powwow Origins.” Conference Proceedings: A Confluence of Cultures: Lewis and Clark. Missoula: University of Montana Press, 2003.
Rpt. CD-ROM, Conference Proceedings: A Confluence of Cultures: Lewis and Clark. Missoula: University of Montana Press, 2003.
+“Maori Meeting Houses: An Evolution in Design Motifs.” Kansas McNair Journal 1 (Spring 1997): 10. Rpt. University of Kansas McNair Home Page, Aug. 1996. Internet. Published online: www: http://mcnair.falcon.cc.ukans.edu.
+Review of Indian Why Stories, by Frank Linderman. Mid-America Folklore Journal 25.1(Spring 1997): 45-7.
+”Menominee: Tribe.” Ready Reference: American Indians. Ed. Harvey Markowitz. 3 vols. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1995. 478-80.
+“Menominee Sign Languages.” Mid-America Folklore Journal 23.2 (Fall 1995): 91-89.
PRESENTATIONS
+“A Native Visual Arts Autobiography.” Native American Literature Symposium, Minneapolis, 2008.
+“Midwest Influences on Langston Hughes,” with Denise Low. Oscar Micheaux Festival, Kansas Humanities Council, Great Bend, Ks., 2005.
+“Ethneogenic Substances in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Novel Ceremony.” Native American Literature Symposium, Minneapolis, and University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, 2005
+“Gender Roles and Geography on the Menominee Reservation.” Avila College, Carol Coburn’s Women’s Studies class, 2004.
+“Evolution of a Pawnee Village.” Kansas Folklore Society. Wichita, 2004.
+“Shamanism in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony.” Southwest/Texas (regional) and American (national) Popular Culture Conference, San Antonio.
“Powwow Origins.” A Confluence of Cultures: Lewis and Clark Conference. University of Montana, 2003.
+“Origins of the Plains Fancy Dance.” Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Conference, Albuquerque, 2001.
+“Humor in American Indian Literature.” Avila College, 1998.
+“Indian Humor.” Haskell Indian Nations University, Humanities Division Conference, 1997.
+“Menominee Sawmill Sign Language.” Kansas Folklore Society. Matfield Green, 1995.
+“A Comparison of Western and Native Views of Fire.” Kansas Folklore Society. Wichita, 1994.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
+Lawrence Citizens Advisory Board, City of Lawrence and Lawrence Police Department, 2009 to present.
+Educational Testing Service AP Examination Reader, 2005-2010, AP U.S. History
+Kansas Folklore Society member, 1995 to present.