Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt

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ON VIEW:
August 26 - December 6, 2025

print on neutral background, small flowers, cluster of "jingles" or small metal cones used on Indigenous regalia, and abstract flowers with long stems

Marie Watt, Vivid Dream (Liberty), 2023, photogravure on gampi with calico fabric, collage, string, silver leaf, 31 1/2 x 19 inches Sheet, Edition 1/10, Published by Mullowney Printing Company, Portland, OR
©Marie Watt, Courtesy of the Artist and Mullowney Printing.

Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt, From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation

We gave thanks for the story, for all parts of the story
because it was by the light of those challenges we knew
ourselves—

—Joy Harjo (Muscogee/Creek), US Poet Laureate 2019–22

Multimedia artist Marie Watt is a storyteller. As a member of the Seneca Nation (one of six Indigenous nations that form the Haudenosaunee Confederacy) with German-Scots ancestry, she tells stories that draw from both Native and non-Native traditions: Greco-Roman myth, pop music and Pop art, Indigenous oral narratives, Star Wars and Star Trek.

Watt reminds us of the stories told by her Seneca ancestors: how the world came to be; what we have to learn from animals; our ethical obligations to the planet, as well as to past and future generations. She tells stories about humble, everyday materials and objects—blankets, quilts, corn husks, letters, ladders, dream catchers—that carry intimate meanings and memories.

Over the course of her career, Watt has told these stories through prints. The collaborative printmaking process is consistent with Watt’s desire to build communities through art and storytelling. The stories the prints tell are personal, cultural, and universal, dealing with elemental themes including shelter, dreams, the earth and sky, the cosmos.

As a Klamath elder once told her: “My story changes when I know your story.”

Since this exhibition debuted in 2022, Marie Watt’s repertoire of stories has continued to expand and grow. In our presentation of the exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University, we have the privilege of including new work Watt has created over the past three years, including Forest Shifts Light (Sequoia, Crest, Canopy) 2025, a jingle cloud commissioned for this presentation. We are further honored to present this exhibition in Watt’s hometown—she was born in the Pacific Northwest and has called Portland home for almost thirty years.

The exhibition was organized by University Galleries, University of San Diego, and curated by John Murphy, PhD, Philip and Lynn Straus Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, and former Hoehn Curatorial Fellow for Prints at the University of San Diego.

Support for this exhibition is provided by Jordan Schnitzer and the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, JSMA at PSU Exhibition Circle, and the Richard and Helen Phillips Charitable Fund.

Upcoming Events + Programs

Saturday, September 6

Storytime

11:00 AM-12:00 PM

Join us for Storytime with Portland-based artist Latoya Lovely! We will read stories inspired by the exhibition. September Storytime will be located in the South Park Blocks at the PSU Farmers Market. This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.

Storytime is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.

RSVP >

detail of an artwork, white sewn thread creates an outline of a wolf on black and blue blanket material

Thursday, September 18

Conversation with Marie Watt, Acosia Red Elk, and Jordan D. Schnitzer

4:00-5:00 PM

We are excited to present a conversation and dance performance with Marie Watt, Acosia Red Elk, and Jordan D. Schnitzer. This conversation is part of our exhibition programming. This program will take place in Lincoln Hall Room 75 (1620 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR, 97201, enter on Broadway). A reception at the museum will follow.

RSVP >

Saturday, September 20

Exhibition Tour

1:00-2:00 PM

Led by museum staff, this tour will cover highlights of Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt, From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. This tour will be accompanied by Kathy Kuehn, who collaborated with the artist at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.

RSVP >

Thursday, October 2

Jingle Dance Performance with Acosia Red Elk

4:00-5:00 PM

Welcome back to campus! We are excited to present Acosia Red Elk, a 10x World Champion Jingle Dancer and world renowned performing artist, to perform in our current exhibition, Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt, From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation.

RSVP >

Saturday, October 4

Storytime

11:00 AM-12:00 PM

Join us for Storytime with Portland-based artist Latoya Lovely! We will read stories inspired by the exhibition. October Storytime will be located in the South Park Blocks at the PSU Farmers Market. This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.

Storytime is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.

RSVP >

Tuesday, October 14

Native Plant Tour with ITECK

12:40-1:30 PM

Join us for a tour of the native plants on campus with the Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) team! This tour will be led by Judy BlueHorse Skelton (Nez Perce/Cherokee), Associate Professor (Ret.) in the Indigenous Nations Studies program, and Emma Johnson (Cowlitz), ITECK Coordinator.

We will meet at the JSMA at PSU and then go on a walking tour of campus, highlighting the plants around the Vernier Science Center and the Oak Savanna.

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Saturday, October 18

Exhibition Tour

1:00-2:00 PM

Led by museum staff, this tour will cover highlights of Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt, From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. This tour will be accompanied by printmaker Harry Schneider, who collaborated with the artist at the Mullowney Printing Company in Portland.

RSVP >

Saturday, October 25

Public Lecture

1:00-2:00 PM

Corn is one of the most important and ubiquitous crops in human history, but its evolution from teosinte to the genetically modified corn of today is a complex and fascinating story. Join us for a public lecture by Professor Hailey Salazar that touches on the origin and history of corn from its earliest domestication in Mexico and its widespread cultivation around the world.

RSVP >

Saturday, November 1

Storytime

11:00 AM -12:00 PM

Join us for Storytime with Portland-based artist Latoya Lovely! We will read stories inspired by the exhibition. This program is free and open to the public. ASL interpreting will be provided.

Storytime is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.

RSVP >

Saturday, November 15

Exhibition Tour

1:00-2:00 PM

Led by museum staff, this tour will cover highlights of Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt, From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. This tour will be accompanied by printmaker Julia D'Amario, who worked with the artist at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.

RSVP >

Featured Works

artwork, print includes abstract stacks of blankets, image of a blanket stack on a blue background

Marie Watt, Blankets, 2003, lithograph and photo transfer, 19 3/4 x 25 3/4 inches, Edition 2/16, Published by Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts, Pendleton, OR, Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer, ©Marie Watt, Photography Credit: Aaron Wessling

printed image of a Quamichan Potlatch, includes a large group of people in the foregaround, buildings, and a single red blanket in the air like a flag

Marie Watt, Witness (Quamichan Potlatch, 1913), 2014, Aquatint and whiteground etching, 12 x 12 inches, Edition 10/10, Published by Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR, Collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, ©Marie Watt, Photography Credit: Strode Photographic

Stack of folded blankets, taller than most people, sits on a wooden base. Tags with descriptions hang from blankets

Marie Watt, Blanket Stories: Great Grandmother, Pandemic, Daybreak, 2021, reclaimed blankets, paper and string tags, and cedar, 108 x 38 1/4 x 40 inches, Collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, ©Marie Watt, Photography Credit: Kevin McConnell

Diptych print. Arch shape on each side, red background, contains multiple words. The words Sapling and Flint are most visible

Marie Watt, Companion Species (Malleable / Brittle), 2021, softground etching, 16 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches (each), Edition 20/20, Published by the artist and Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR, Collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, ©Marie Watt, Photography Credit: Aaron Wessling

Print, includes a target shape, and diamond quilt like pattern overlaid.

Marie Watt, Transit, 2004, lithograph and chine collé, 22 1/4 x 30 1/8 inches, Edition 7/25, Published by Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM, Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer, ©Marie Watt, Photography Credit: Aaron Wessling

Brochure

Storywork-The-Prints-of-Marie-Watt-Brochure.pdf

Past Events + Programs

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