05/18/2026
Congratulations are in order! Art History doctoral candidate Julia Hamer-Light is the recipient of the inaugural Bernie L. Herman Prize for Outstanding Graduate Achievement in Material Culture Studies! Julia’s dissertation, “Part of the Continuum: Arthur Amiotte’s Fiber Wall Hangings and Lakhóta Ecological Pedagogy, 1960-1978,” examines the woven textiles and teaching practices of Oglala Lakhóta artist-educator Arthur Amiotte on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Challenging conventional art historical categorizations that have framed modernism as an urban phenomenon, Julia turns to land-based, Indigenous-led experiential pedagogy to illuminate new connections among modernist practice, ecocriticism, and studio craft. 🧶
This prize is named in honor of the Center for Material Culture Studies’ founding director, Dr. Bernie Herman (1951-2024), an internationally renowned scholar of material culture studies. CMCS writes: “Julia’s work embodies Herman’s commitment to engaging with living, contemporary artists, his interest in challenging definitions of American material culture, and his careful attention to the power of place. Agile, eloquent, precise, and always attuned to the relationships of objects and their makers: Julia’s work would have made Bernie Herman proud.”
📸 Image captions:
1- Detail of Arthur Amiotte, Door to the World, 1972. Mixed fiber media, yarn, hand tanned hide, beads, and sticks. 76 x 44 inches. U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Sioux Indian Museum, Rapid City, South Dakota, R.73.4.2.
2- Julia Hamer-Light
