Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Fadden, John |
Notes |
John D. Fadden Kahionhes Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan Artist and illustrator John Fadden was born to Christine and Ray Fadden in 1938. His childhood was spent at Akwesasne where his parents encouraged his creativity. John's first introduction to art as a profession was at age 13 when he produced a series of charts for Ray to use in his classroom. At age 17, John designed educational pamplets for Ray's newly established Six Nations Museum in Onchiota, NY. He continued to illustrate these educational pamphlets for the still operating museum until 1996. John earned a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1961 and served as an art teacher in the Saranac Central School District for 32 years. In addition to teaching he maintained an active art practice working in pen and ink and acrylic, and occasionally exploring watercolors and oil. With a nod to the works of early Seneca painters Ernie Smith and Sanford Plummer, John draws from the vast repertoire of Haudenosaunee stories, history, and traditional themes, as well as from the endless diversity of the natural world. His clean and strikingly naturalistic illustrations have been featured in hundreds of publications including Akwesasne Notes; NE Indian Quarterly; several in the Keepers of the Earth/Animals series; The White Roots of Peace; Myths of the Iroquois; as well as several produced in Europe. Upon his retirement in 1994, John became more actively involved in the running of the Six Nations Museum and continues in that role today with assistance from his sons David and Donny. Additionally, John has served as a consultant and advisor on public education projects including the Native Peoples of NY Exhibition Advisory Committee for the NY State Museum (Albany, NY); the NY State Education Dept. Haudenosaunee Social Studies Writers Committee (Albany, NY); the American Indian Program at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY); the Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian (NY); the Iroquois Museum (Howes Cave, NY), and the Adirondack Museum (Blue Mountain Lake, NY). John's art has been showcased in numerous exhibitions, including Lake Placid Center for the Arts (Lake Placid, NY, 1997); Art Mohawk 92 (Montreal, Quebec, Canada); and Shared Stories, a traveling exhibit produced by Exhibits USA (Kansas City, MO, 1995-1998). His work is in the permanent collections of the Iroquois Museum, the Six Nations Museum (Onchiota, NY), the Woodland Cultural Center (Brantford, Ontario); the Akwesasne Museum (Akwesasne); the NY State Museum (Albany, NY) and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (Ledyard, CT). *Bio text cannot be used in print or web publications without IIM permission. Use for other purposes (such as research papers, presentations) should credit the IIM. |
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