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CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University’s Little Gallery presents “Reverence,” an exhibition of selected works by Ka’ila Farrell-Smith, Natalie Ball and Rick Bartow, Oct. 8 through Dec. 13.

An opening reception will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Oct. 8 in the gallery. Oct. 8 also is Indigenous People’s Day. Ball and Farrell-Smith plan to attend the opening.

Each of the artists is deeply influenced by their indigenous heritage and culture. The exhibition presents work that explores the artists’ relationship to the land as well as themes of activism and autobiography through painting, installation, textiles and sculpture.

Farrell-Smith is a contemporary Klamath Modoc visual artist based in Portland. She works as a professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies department at Portland State University and is co-director for Signal Fire artist residency program. 

Ball was born and raised in Portland, attended the University of Oregon and earned her master’s degree in Maori Visual Arts, with a focus on indigenous contemporary art at Massey University in New Zealand. She earned her master of fine arts degree in painting and printmaking at Yale School of Art in 2018. She lives in her ancestral homelands of Chiloquin.

Bartow, who died in 2016, was of Wiyot heritage of Northern California. Personal experiences, cultural engagement and global myths, especially Native American transformation stories, are the heart of his work. 

The Little Gallery, 210 Kidder Hall on the OSU campus in Corvallis, is open 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

For more information about OSU150, visit osu150.org.