June 2018- July 2019
2018 PEW GRANT: Library Company of Philadelphia, PA
The Library Company of Philadelphia will present Redrawing History: Indigenous Perspectives on Colonial America, a newly commissioned graphic novel and exhibition that will re-contextualize 18th-century historic events from the perspective of indigenous communities. Native American artists—illustrator Weshoyot Alvitre of the Tongva people and writer Lee Francis from the Laguna Pueblo—will collaborate on the novel, drawing from previously unexamined materials in the library’s collection, such as diary entries, letters, and political cartoons. The artists will reference “The Digital Paxton”—a web-based humanities archive produced by Library Company fellow Will Fenton—to retell the little-known story of the 1763 massacre, by armed settlers, of the Conestoga Tribe in Paxton Township, near what is present-day Harrisburg, PA. Native Realities Press, the preeminent publisher of Native American comics, will publish the novel and distribute it to more than 550 federally-recognized tribes. The book will also include a curriculum to facilitate its use in high school classrooms. The accompanying exhibition at the Library Company will feature Alvitre’s illustrations, alongside artifacts and materials from the library’s collection.
February 2-April 20 2018
ALL MY RELATIONS ARTS: Bring Her Home, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Bring Her Home highlights the ongoing epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women. It features original works by 16 visual artists from across the United States and many tribal nations.
In light of the local movement to stop sexual exploitation and the international #MMIW awareness campaign, Bring Her Home shares visual stories of the impacted women.
Emerging curator and artist, Angela Two Stars, brings together these artists to reclaim the identities of missing and murdered indigenous women. Rather than reduce the issue to a statistic, she challenges us to honor the life of each indigenous woman as we would a sister, a wife, a mother, a best friend, a cousin, or a daughter.
Featuring new work from Shan Goshorn, Luzene Hill, Laura Youngbird, Kayeri Akweks, Hillary Kempenich, Chholing Taha, Cara Romero, and more.
November 11 - December 31 2016
Native Realities: Superheroes of Past, Present, & Future
form & concept gallery, Sante Fe, NM
A groundbreaking new show, Native Realities: Superheroes of Past, Present, and Future opens at form & concept gallery in Santa Fe on November 11th 2016. The show is being held in conjunction with the world’s first Indigenous Comic Con, which launches in Albuquerque on November 18th at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Native Realities shares the stories of superheroes across Native cultures. With comics created by youth and teachers in Zuni Pueblo, and the works of professional comic artists Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva), Jonathan Nelson (Diné), Jon Proudstar (Yaqui), Ryan Singer (Navajo), and Arigon Starr (Kickapoo), the show invites the public to consider the role of heroes - defined as everyday people doing extraordinary work - in our lives.
January 20–March 29, 2018
Manifesto: A Moderate Proposal
Pitzer College Art Galleries
Claremont, CA
The people have spoken. They have put it in writing. They have created manifestos.
Pitzer College Art Galleries has collected these works and put them on display in Manifesto: A Moderate Proposal, an exhibition of the ideas, wishes and demands of scores of citizens with something to say and a need to be heard. It is our current climate of discord that created Manifesto: A Moderate Proposal. It was conceived to give these citizens a soapbox and to amplify their voices.
These voices are many. These voices belong to inmates at sun-baked correctional facilities in Southern California and to cloistered scholars at elite colleges. These voices express the ideas of professional writers, self-taught artists and developmentally disabled students. Their broad variety of concerns were harvested by of team of varied volunteers—Andrea Bowers, Olga Koumoundouros, Việt Lê, Ultra Red, Carlin Wing and Jenny Yurshansky—who collected manifestos that are printed on paper, painted on canvas, formed in neon, shot on video and carved in wood. MANIFESTO: A Moderate Proposal is a multitude of opinions hung densely, floor-to-ceiling, in sections that reflect the numerous themes that include immigration, ableism, race, resistance, religion and gentrification.
Permanent Exhibition, Opens May 2022
2022 Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories FIELD MUSEM, IL
On May 20, 2022, the Field Museum presents a new permanent exhibition Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories. Over four years in the making, the groundbreaking exhibition was created with the guidance of an advisory council of 11 Native American scholars and museum professionals, and in partnership with 130 collaborators representing over 105 Tribes. Visitors can experience stories told by Native people of self-determination, resilience, continuity, and the future that come to life through historic and contemporary beadworks, ceramics, murals, music, dance, and more.
April 22-23, 2022
2022 Marshall McKay Seminar for Empowering Native Knowledge
Named in honor of Marshall McKay, former Chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation Tribal Council and the first Native person to serve as Chair of the Autry’s Board, the Marshall McKay Seminar seeks to empower Native knowledge. It will address topics that impact Indian Country—and beyond.
This year’s inaugural seminar delves into the significant changes that have reshaped museums and their relationship to Native history, culture, and art. The two-day symposium, which will be livestreamed across Indian Country, will feature a variety of perspectives from Native artists, knowledge keepers, scholars, and museum professionals. Panels will explore how Native curators are changing the museum narrative, the role of tribal museums, and the interpretation of Native art, with a particularly deep dive into California Native art.
September 2022-March 2023
2022 Crossing Waters:CONTEMPORARY TONGVA ARTISTS CARRYING PIMUGNA
In this inaugural partnership between the Catalina Museum for Art & History and the Tongva Community, Crossing Waters highlights the works of three contemporary Tongva artists, Weshoyot Alvitre, Mercedes Dorame, and River Garza.
Permanent Collection
2022 Lucas Museum
Museum Announces Additions of Works by Artists Ranging from Lucas Cranach the Elder, Kerry James Marshall, and John Singer Sargent to Weshoyot Alvitre, Ernie Barnes, Jaime Hernandez, and Cara Romero as Construction Milestones Are Reached with the Beginning of Façade Construction and the Planting of More Than 200 Trees for Its Surrounding Park