The Challenge Questions

• Depict the relationship between corn, beans and squash which derives the name Three Sisters given by America’s Indigenous.
• Why are the Native American Three Sisters called the Three Sisters and not the three mothers or three brothers?
• What makes them mutually supportive and energetically productive?
  
• What is the Spirit of these plants working together?
  
• Is it because they grow up together, with an older, middle and younger sister?
  
• It is the idea of one reaching upward standing like a soldier lonely without the next one stretching out to protect and the third one shading from below helping quench the thirst by protecting the shallow roots?
  
• Or is it about how these three vegetables provide every one of the essential amino acids our bodies need for complete nutrition making the Three Sisters complete?
  
• Is it about girls sharing secrets?
  
• Is it about a relationship that sisters have that others do not have?
  
• The artwork can reflect the spirit involved in growing and harvesting or being nourished by these crops including giving thanks and being connected to the earth and all humanity.
  
• How would you depict the Three Sisters?

Window to Submit Digital Images for Consideration
Tues., Sept. 15 – Thurs., Oct. 1

Selection & Notification
Tues., Sept. 15 – Thurs., Oct. 1

Final Art Delivered to Barns of Rose Hill
Fri., Oct. 2 – Tues., Oct. 20

Exhibit Dates
Tues., Oct. 27 - Sat., Nov. 21

Customers Pickup Art Purchased
Sun.- Tues., Nov. 22 – 24

Artists Pickup Unsold Art
Sun.- Tues., Nov. 22 – 24

Art Show & Sale Ends
Wed., Nov. 25

The 2009 Native American $1 Coin is based on the theme of agriculture.  Its reverse features a Native American woman planting seeds in a field of corn, beans and squash and the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and $1.  (RIGHT)

Spread of Three Sisters Agriculture (1000 A.D.)

Maize was domesticated in central Mexico and spread from the southwest through North America, along with symbiotic "Three Sisters" agriculture, in which corn, beans and squash growing in the same mound enhanced the productivity of each plant.  Native American skill in agriculture provided the margin of survival for the early European colonists, either through trade or direct sharing of expertise, and agricultural products native to the Americas quickly became staples throughout Europe.

Three Sisters symbiotic agriculture—planting corn, climbing beans and squash together in the same plot—also originated in central Mexico and probably spread simultaneously with the corn.  In this efficient planting method, corn stalks provided support for the bean vines, which added nitrogen to the soil.  Squash provided ground cover, which discouraged weeds.  Productivity was much higher (by some estimates as much as 30 percent) for the three grown together than each grown separately.

Background: Agriculture

Agriculture has always been an important subject in Native American culture.  Native American culture emphasizes living with the land and understanding the surrounding natural resources.  When Europeans first arrived in the "New World," one of the largest contributions and benefits of their relationships with Native Americans was the sharing of agricultural information.  It is widely acknowledged that colonists would not have survived in the New World without the support and knowledge gained from Native American agricultural techniques.

Native Americans practiced crop rotation, round cropping, hybridizations, seed development, irrigation methods and many other agricultural techniques that are still used today.

SOURCE: U.S. Mint "Connecting American Through Coins"

CLARKE COUNTY, VA – Virginia nonprofits are now accepting applications from artists ages 12 -120 who are creating artworks that explore the facets of Three Sisters. In Native American culture, the Three Sisters represent agricultural treasures of maize (corn), pole beans and winter squash (or gourds).
    The Three Sisters Regional Art Challenge is a new program to support a temporary public fine-art project that engages communities, enhances creativity and enriches the vibrancy of Native American culture in the region. Successful entries will be exhibited in the gallery at Barns of Rose Hill Cultural Center in Berryville, Va. Tuesday, Oct. 27 – Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015.  
    “Significant events like this, can introduce many new people to our County and to our Town, that will like what they see and return,” said Len Capelli Clarke County’s new director of tourism.
    Art judges will select the artwork for the gallery-showing, based on artistic quality, uniqueness and on how imaginative the work captures the spirit of the Three Sisters legacy; it does not have to literally depict the plants. 

    The Three Sisters Art Challenge is an art show and sale opportunity for residents of Virginia and its surrounding region: West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Washington D.C., Tennessee and North Carolina.
    Entries must be original works of art in these media: painting, drawing, printmaking, photography/ digital art, dried gourds, sculpture, ceramics, pottery, fibers, woodworks, or mixed media (seed etc.) that meet the guidelines online.  All artwork must be original and created by the artist. Space is limited and applications must be complete in order to participate.
    “Barns of Rose Hill gallery provides the perfect community canvas for artists working in all disciplines of art and with art education,” said Kelli Hart Barns of Rose Hill. “The Three Sisters Art Challenge is part of a fantastic and diverse variety of programs we offer people of all ages including live music, educational workshops, film screenings and art classes.”
    Entries will be accepted between September 15 - October 1, 2015. A nonrefundable application fee/contribution of $20 per artist is requested as part of the application process. Each artist may submit up to three separate pieces of artwork. Entry fees help bring Native American dancers in regalia from across the continent to participate in The Gathering, a traditional Native American Harvest Dance scheduled this fall and held during the art exhibit.

    After notification of acceptance into the Three Sisters Regional Art Challenge, artists have until Oct. 20 to submit their final artwork. The Three Sisters Art Challenge Art Show and Sale opens at Barns of Rose Hill on October 28 helping launch The Gathering October 30. The art show & sale continues to run during Native American Heritage Month and comes down just before Thanksgiving.

   “The Three Sisters Art Challenge helps celebrate the spirit of interconnectedness, mutual helpfulness and celebration of life exemplified by the Three Sisters,” said René Locklear White (Lumbee Indian Tribe) and executive director for The Gathering an event hosted and supported by several non-profits.
    The Three Sisters Art Challenge is hosted by Barns of Rose Hill Cultural Center with the Native American Church of Virginia a Sanctuary on the Trail™ in partnership with the Virginia Lovers’ Gourd Society with support from the Red Road Foundation,™ Nowa Cuming Institute™ Clarke County Tourism and Clarke County Parks and Recreation.
    The Three Sisters Art Challenge art exhibit is part of “The Gathering” an educational celebration of agri-culture. More information about the Three Sisters Art Challenge is online at HarvestGathering.org and barnsofrosehill.org.

The Challenge

• Depict the relationship between corn, beans and squash which derives the name Three Sisters given by America’s Indigenous.
• Why are the Native American Three Sisters called the Three Sisters and not the three mothers or three brothers?
• What makes them mutually supportive and energetically productive?
  
• What is the Spirit of these plants working together?
  
• Is it because they grow up together, with an older, middle and younger sister?
  
• It is the idea of one reaching upward standing like a soldier lonely without the next one stretching out to protect and the third one shading from below helping quench the thirst by protecting the shallow roots?
  
• Or is it about how these three vegetables provide every one of the essential amino acids our bodies need for complete nutrition making the Three Sisters complete?
  
• Is it about girls sharing secrets?
  
• Is it about a relationship that sisters have that others do not have?
  
• The artwork can reflect the spirit involved in growing and harvesting or being nourished by these crops including giving thanks and being connected to the earth and all humanity.
  
• How would you depict the Three Sisters?

Barns of Rose Hill
Community Center for Arts & Education in Berryville, Virginia Barns of Rose Hill is a unique nonprofit performing arts venue and community center in Berryville, Virginia — the seat of Clarke County in the Shenandoah Valley. The Barns of Rose Hill are two early 20th century dairy barns that were fully restored in 2011 as a center for learning, creativity, entertainment, and celebration.
    More than 17,000 people have attended events since our opening in September 2011 and the Barns have become a vital center of activity in downtown Berryville, drawing people to concerts, exhibits, films, yoga, art classes, and community programs from a five-county area that includes Clarke, Frederick/Winchester, Warren, Fauquier, and Loudoun.

History
History The barns of Rose Hill are two early 20th-Century dairy barns that were part of a farm estate donated to the Town of Berryville in 1964 by Mr. Horace Smithy, who had named the farm after his beautiful and beloved wife, Rosalie. And so Berryville won a lovely four-acre park that became a central focus of community activities through the years.
    As the town developed around the barns and park grounds, it was clear the old barns could contribute in a significant way. Therefore, in September 2004, Barns of Rose Hill, Inc. was formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to raise funds for the restoration of the barns with the intention of creating the Barns as a center for community, arts, and education. After six years of fundraising, the restoration of the Barns of Rose Hill reached its completion and it officially opened in September 2011.

Restored for a Life of Service & Celebration
The extensive renovation included a world class sound system, acoustic engineering, and a highly flexible architectural concept. Our facility now includes upper and lower galleries, the James. R. Wilkins, Sr. Great Hall, and open deck. Our elevator offers handicapped accessibility between the lower and upper levels.

Mission
Enrich lives through programs in the performing, visual and literary arts.

95 Chalmers Court
Berryville, Va. 22611
P: 540-955-2004

501(c)3 Nonprofit