A decades-spanning passion for advocating the study of Native American art has earned the director of OU’s School of Art and Art History state-wide recognition.
Regents professor and director emeritus Mary Jo Watson was surprised when she found out that she would be inducted into the hall of fame for the Oklahoma Higher Education Heritage Society, an organization that promotes research and history in higher education.
“The idea is to have someone who dedicated their academic life to a quality of learning and studying in Oklahoma,” said Rozmeri Basic, interim co-director of the school of art and art history.
Watson’s interest in educating people about Native American culture inspired her to teach the first Native American art history course at OU in 1980, she said.
“There are still pockets of great poverty, bad health and a lack of information about Indians nationwide,” Watson said. “It’s been my goal to show that they are a very vital and important part of our community.”
Since the first class, Watson has expanded the classes offered over Native American Art at OU, according to the School of Art and Art History’s website.
“She has an interest in raising a higher level of understanding of art production of native peoples of Oklahoma,” Basic said. “That’s something that she always tried to do.”
With the help of Andrew Phelan, she established the first Ph.D. program for Native American art in the United States, according to the society’s website.
“Artistic production of native people was ignored in a level of academic research before, seen more as a craft that wasn’t studied and researched,” Basic said.
The expansion of curriculum of Native American art at OU has drawn donations of funds and art to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Watson said.
The availability of art on campus has enhanced education within the Ph.D. program, Watson said.
“[Watson] is utilizing genuine resources that exist in Oklahoma,” Basic said. “It’s really important to have this generation of young scholars who are absolutely skilled in understanding Oklahoma heritage.”
As well as expanding the classes offered over Native American art history, Watson has improved higher education by inspiring her students, Basic said.
“She shows them that they need to have respect for what they’re doing and they need to be involved emotionally,” Basic said. “I haven’t met anyone who didn’t fall in love with her.”
While Watson is shy about talking about her recognition, she is greatly appreciative of it, she said.
“It makes me feel good that all this work I’ve done for all these years had some results not only for me personally but for dozens and dozens of students,” Watson said.
