Past Exhibitions

 

“Down Home” MIAC 2023 Living Treasure Anthony Lovato (Kewa/Santo Domingo Pueblo)
May 7, 2023 through May 3, 2024
Drawing from the MIAC permanent collection and the generosity of private lenders, Down Home brings together decades of Lovato’s work. Selections detailing his trademark corn, horse, and hand motifs are complemented by individual masterpieces evoking family, migration, and cosmology.   Importantly, the exhibition focuses on Lovato’s interpretation of his own work. Visitors will leave not only with a deeper knowledge of jewelry making and tufa casting, but of Lovato as an artist, community member, and storyteller. As a complement to his artistic practice, Lovato is dedicated to working within his community, serving as an advocate for language revitalization, education, and the power of art to facilitate healing.   In addition to showing Lovato’s innovative and always one-of-a-kind pendants, stamped necklaces, bracelets, rings, pins, and sculptural items the exhibition also includes the work of his grandfather, Leo Coriz.      


 

Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery
July 31, 2022 through May 29, 2023
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture debuts a traveling exhibition that features more than 100 historic and contemporary works in clay. (Cochiti Pueblo 50009/12 Gift of Dr. Phyllis Harroun MIAC)


 

ReVOlution
May 1, 2022 through April 1, 2023
Enter the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) and join in the celebration of its 2022 Living Treasure, Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo).  Ortiz’s vision, as seen through his murals and ceramic objects gracing MIAC’s lobby, are examples of combining his Pueblo culture with sci-fi, fantasy and apocalyptic themes. The artist’s work has been exhibited in venues from the Netherlands to Paris to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian and other U.S. museums.  On display through April 1, 2023


 

Painted Reflections
February 6, 2022 through March 12, 2023
Explore the designs painted on ancestral and contemporary Pueblo pottery by visiting Painted Reflections: Isomeric Design in Pueblo Pottery. Never before the subject of a museum exhibition, Painted Reflections offers new insights into the study of Pueblo art through an analysis of the visual structure of ceramic design.   *Gallup Black-on-White Bowl


 

Birds
September 18, 2021 through June 5, 2022
Birds are cherished among many cultures worldwide. Where birds live well, people thrive. See Birds: Spiritual Messengers of the Skies through June 5, 2022 at the NM Museum of Anthropology on Santa Fe’s Museum Hill.


 

Collecting Jewelry: Curator H.P. Mera’s Trip to Navajo Country in 1932
July 1, 2021 through January 2, 2022
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture will open "Collecting Jewelry:  Curator H.P. Mera’s Trip to Navajo Country in 1932, starting July 1, 2021, until January 2022.


 

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces
May 18, 2021 through June 30, 2021
“Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces” is currently on view. This new traveling exhibition highlights the generations of Native Americans who have served in the United States military.


 

A Place in Clay
May 16, 2021 through May 10, 2022
Kathleen Wall (Jemez Pueblo) presents A Place in Clay, an exhibition of her work that honors her distinguished title of Living Treasure for 2020. 


 

Clearly Indigenous
May 16, 2021 through June 12, 2022
Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, is a groundbreaking exhibit of works in glass by 33 Indigenous artists, plus leading glass artist Dale Chihuly who introduced glass art to Indian Country. On view from May 2021 to June 2022 at The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture the stunning art in the exhibit embodies the intellectual content of Native traditions expressed in glass.


 

The Buchsbaum Gallery of Southwestern Pottery
March 4, 2021 through March 4, 2021
The Buchsbaum Gallery features each of the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona in a selection of pieces that represent the development of a community tradition. In addition, a changing area of the gallery, entitled Traditions Today highlights the evolving contemporary traditions of the ancient art of pottery making.


 

Women in Archaeology
October 19, 2019 through October 9, 2020
This exhibit highlights the work of 11 pioneer women in archaeology who worked in the American Southwest as well as touches on some major early and modern contributors to archaeology throughout the world. 


 

Diego Romero vs. the End of Art
October 6, 2019 through January 2, 2021
Diego Romero vs. the End of Art will be a dynamic exploration of a Cochiti Pueblo artist’s journey through life as depicted through his work. 


 

San Ildefonso Pottery: 1600 - 1930
August 11, 2019 through December 31, 2020
San Ildefonso pottery is about a little known art, an American art form that deserves recognition and appreciation alongside the other great world art systems.  Before there was Santa Fe and before the idea of “art colony” was born there was San Ildefonso, a small village of extraordinarily visionary artists whose ceramic legacy is rich and vitally meaningful.  


 

The Brothers Chongo: A Tragic Comedy in Two Parts
April 7, 2019 through October 31, 2019
More than twenty years after their first joint exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC), Diego and Mateo Romero (Cochiti Pueblo) show their latest work as the 2019 Living Treasures, opening April 7, 2019. The exhibition, The Brothers Chongo: A Tragic Comedy in Two Parts, features Mateo Romero’s lithographs and paintings, as well as Diego Romero’s pottery and lithographs. Pairing Pueblo imagery with cutting-edge messages, the exhibition will be on view through October 2019.  Though the brothers employ separate artistic mediums, the exhibition articulates a collective vision of the future for Native people. Both Diego’s pottery and Mateo’s paintings address how to heal communities through a shared experience. Della Warrior (Otoe-Missouria), director of MIAC, addresses awarding Diego and Mateo Romero as the 2019 Living Treasures. “While their individual careers continue to soar, we are honored to spotlight their talent, unique perspectives and distinct artistic styles with an exhibition of their current work scheduled to open this April.” Lillia McEnaney curates the exhibition, capturing each of the brothers’ unique styles. Mateo creates bold brushstrokes and contemporary viewpoints with a mix of oil and acrylic paint while Diego’s pottery garners influence through graphic designs—both demonstrating innovative style through social commentary and, at times, humor.


 

Beyond Standing Rock
February 23, 2019 through December 1, 2019
This exhibit focuses heavily on the events leading up to the DAPL construction and the experiences of many who were at Standing Rock during the protest. However, the exhibit will also highlight other examples of similar encroachments and violations of Native American sovereignty, many of which have impacted Native health and sacred lands.


 

Birds: Spiritual Messengers of the Skies
October 20, 2018 through September 30, 2019
Please note this exhibit is at the Center for NM Archaeology, located at 7 Old Cochiti Road, off the Caja Del Rio exit of 599. Birds are among the most cherished animals with whom we share the Earth. Where birds live well, people thrive. The presence and wellbeing of birds reflects the health of the environment; they share every ecosystem with us, playing the role of hunter and prey, pollinators, scavengers, and dispersers of seeds. Feeding the spirit, they can signify strength, courage and freedom. They are companions to us and inspire us to think beyond our own confinement and limitations. With some 10,000 species of birds in the world, they represent one of the best adapted animals on Earth, dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. “Birds: Spiritual Messengers of the Skies” explores the importance of birds among Native American culture both in the past and today. It includes information on some of the major bird species of the Southwest and how important birds have been as a resource for tools, feathers and food. Birds in archaeology, how they are studied and what that tells us about the past, is also included. With help from Audubon New Mexico, the exhibit inspires to communicate important aspects of birds and their role in our world. The exhibit opens on International Archaeology Day, Saturday, October 20, at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology located off the 599 Bypass in Santa Fe at 7 Old Cochiti Road (located off Caja del Rio Road, right across from the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society). The Center, which houses the archaeology collections for the State of New Mexico, and the Office of Archaeological Studies, who shares the building, will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include tours of the facility and many activities and demonstrations for children and adults including atlatl (spear) throwing and archaeology demonstrations. The event is free of charge. Thereafter, the exhibit can be viewed in the lobby of the Center until October 2019, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (excluding holidays). This exhibit complements The Year of the Bird, the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that was passed in 1918 to protect birds from wanton killing. The Year of the Bird is sponsored by National Geographic, the National Audubon Society, BirdLife International and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Visit any of these organizations’ sites to sign up, learn how to help protect birds, and find events near you!


 

Creating Tradition - at Epcot Center
July 27, 2018 through December 31, 2019
This special MIAC exhibition - located at Disney World’s Epcot Center (Orlando, FL) - allows visitors to explore the artistry of American Indian communities and learn about traditional Native influences. “Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change in American Indian Art” showcases authentic, historical Native artifacts alongside contemporary works of American Indian art—demonstrating examples of cultural traditions which have been handed down through generations. Native communities from 7 geographic regions across the United States are included in the gallery. Their art represents the richness, depth and diversity of Native cultures past and present. Among the featured artists with works on display are fashion designer Loren Aragon (Acoma Pueblo), noted doll-maker Glenda McKay (Ingalik-Athabascan) and Juanita Growing Thunder (Assiniboine Sioux) from the Growing Thunder family of Montana. This collection is made possible through the collaboration of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C.


 

What’s New in New: Selections from the Carol Warren Collection
June 3, 2018 through September 2, 2019
The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC) periodically features art recently acquired through gifts or purchases. What’s New in New: Selections from the Carol Warren Collection, highlights the collection donated to the Museum by Carol Warren, who was a volunteer in the Collections Department for more than 20 years. The collection consists of over 200 works of art, including paintings, pottery, jewelry and textiles from some of Santa Fe’s most prominent contemporary artists. A selection of this collection will be on exhibit and will include pieces created by renowned artists such as Tony Abeyta, Tammy Garcia, Dan Namingha, and Jody Naranjo. The exhibition, co-curated by, C.L. Kieffer Nail, Antonio Chavarria, and Valerie Verzuh, will not only highlight outstanding contemporary artists, but it will also feature multigenerational artists by including work of artists within the same family that have crafted their trade alongside each other. “By displaying pieces made by related artists, we hope to demonstrate ways in which Native artists inspire each other through instruction as well as how individual artists exhibit their own identity through what is essentially a family practice,” said curator C. L. Kieffer Nail. In accepting new items, whether they were made yesterday or 12,000 years ago, museum staff consider various issues such as curatorial collecting objectives, gaps in collections, potential future use of the objects such as publication and exhibition, storage limitations and special preservation requirements. The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology collections inspire appreciation for and promote knowledge of the diverse native arts, histories, languages, and cultures of the Greater Southwest. This mission is made possible through the active acquisition of material culture that contributes to an understanding of the peoples that made them. The creative talents of Native artists in the past, present and future, give purpose to the MIAC. This is why it continues to collect and preserve art and artifacts made by tribal artists from all time periods. It endeavors to educate visitors about ancient yet living Native cultures, and provide Indian artists with examples of their ancestors’ gifts. The accessioned collections of the museum are made possible by the generosity of donors and the cultivation of such by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and its affiliated support groups.  


 

Hweeldi: The Woven Tribute
June 1, 2018 through June 2, 2019
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Bosque Redondo, signed June 1, 1868, by displaying an extraordinary wool rug woven in tribute to the Long Walk. Created in the early 1900s, the rug is an impressive 9 ft. by 15 ft., last displayed at MIAC in 1996. While the identity of the weavers of the piece remains unknown, Navajo oral history – and likely some first-hand accounts – informed the weavers along the way with their design.  In 1868, the Long Walk was initiated by the United States military as part of Manifest Destiny, the concept that expansion of the United States in the 1800s was both justified and inevitable. Only the 1868 treaty allowed the Navajo to return to their Diné Bikéyah (Navajo sacred lands) in northwestern New Mexico, where they rebuilt as a nation of herders, farmers, and weavers.


 

Maria Samora: Master of Elegance
April 8, 2018 through March 3, 2019
MIAC is happy to announce Maria Samora: Master of Elegance, an exhibition that showcases this year’s Museum of Indian Arts & Culture Living Treasure and Native Treasurers Featured Artist. Samora (Taos Pueblo) is known for her minimalist lines, interdisciplinary approach, and modern designs. She began apprenticing with goldsmith and master gem cutter Phil Poirer in 1998 and went on to work with him for 15 years. Since striking out on her own in 2005, her jewelry has become known for the simplicity of its design, textured metals, and combinations of both gold and silver. Stones include traditional turquoise and unexpected choices such as diamonds, guava moonstone, and African opal. The metalwork Samora has learned to incorporate are rooted in Etruscan, Greek, Egyptian, Syrian, and even Korean designs. Samora’s work will remain on display in MIAC’s Diker Gallery through February of 2019.   You may view a short documentary about Maria Samora by copying and pasting the following link. https://tinyurl.com/yd6ef9yy  


 

Lifeways of the Southern Athabaskans
December 10, 2017 through June 2, 2019
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture will exhibit over 100 objects dating from the late 1880s to the present. Cultural objects will represent the lifeways of the different Apachean groups in New Mexico and Arizona. These cultural objects include basketry, beaded clothing, hunting and horse gear. These groups are: Jicarilla Apache, Mescalero Apache, Fort Sill Apache (Chiricahua), San Carlos Apache and White Mountain Apache.


 

Points Through Time
October 21, 2017 through October 1, 2018
Projectile points are one of the most iconic images of archaeology in the American Southwest. This exhibition focuses on some of the projectile points that are commonly found here in New Mexico from Paleoindian times (13,500 years ago), through the Archaic, and into Puebloan times (1,260 to 110 years ago) as well as some of the exotic points that have come to New Mexico from California and Texas. The exhibit discusses how archaeologists classify points, why they change through time, and how illegal collection of points can impact the archaeological record. This exhibit opens on Saturday October 21, 2017 at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology (7 Old Cochiti Road). After that, the exhibit is open to the public Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on holidays.


 

Stepping Out: 10,000 Years of Walking the West
August 27, 2017 through December 30, 2018
Footwear is evocative. It tells us about belonging, love, and social aspiration, reflecting the lives of makers and wearers and offering a window into the past and the present. This exhibition features sandals that date back thousands of years found in the dry caves of New Mexico and nearby regions; includes Plains and Southwest moccasins, many beautifully beaded or quilled, and exhibited for the first time in decades; and concludes with examples of contemporary high fashion footwear made artists like Teri Greeves, Lisa Telford, and Emil Her Many Horses. Stepping Out: 10,000 Years of Walking the West opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on August 27, 2017, and will be on display through the end of 2018.


 

Living Treasures: A Celebration of Vision - At the Governor’s Gallery
May 5, 2017 through August 25, 2017
Since 2006, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture has awarded outstanding indigenous artists with the designation of “Living Treasure” during the Museum’s annual Native Treasures Festival. Living Treasures: A Celebration of Vision celebrates those awardees. The pieces on display from artists such as Lonnie Vigil, Roxanne Swentzell, Teri Greeves, and Robert Tenorio, stand as a powerful reminder that tradition and cultural practices thrive within the vibrant, creative worlds of New Mexico’s Pueblo and tribal communities.  


 

Jody Naranjo: Revealing Joy
April 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017
The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture will host a solo exhibition featuring the work of current Living Treasure, prolific Santa Clara pueblo potter Jody Naranjo, in the lobby of the museum.


 

EXTENDED! I-Witness Culture: Frank Buffalo Hyde
February 3, 2017 through April 30, 2018
Artist Frank Buffalo Hyde (Onondaga/Nez Perce) believes it is the artist’s responsibility to represent the times in which they live. Transforming street art techniques into fine art practices, his humorous and acerbic narrative artworks do exactly that. In I-Witness Culture, Hyde investigates the space where Native Americans exist today: between the ancient and the new; between the accepted truth and the truth; between the known and the unknown. Hyde, who created fourteen paintings and three sculptures for I-Witness, divides his contemporary narrative into three sections: Paranormal: The Truth is Out There; Selfie Skndns; and In-Appropriate. Pre-millennium, if you asked anyone if Native Americans existed, they would tell you only in the past, in black and white photos. They are almost extinct, they would say, and their lands are gone. If you ever meet one, ask if you can touch their hair, take a picture of them as proof that you actually saw one—like Bigfoot they exist beyond the scope of normal experience. Post-millennium, Native Americans are part of the digital age, the selfie age, where if something hasn’t been posted to social media, it never happened. We are sharing information at a rate that has never been possible before in human history: We no longer just experience reality; we filter reality through our electronic devices. Today’s Native artists use technology as a tool of Indigenous activism, a means to document, and a form of validation. In a nation obsessed with sameness—afraid of difference—popular culture homogenizes indigenous cultures, "honoring" us with fashion lines, misogynistic music videos, or offensive mascots and Halloween costumes. Today, these stereotypes and romantic notions are irrelevant as a new generation of Native American artists uses social media to let the world know who they are. Today, we are the observers, as well as the observed. We are here, we are educated, and we define Indian art.      


 

Into the Future: Culture Power in Native American Art
July 17, 2016 through October 22, 2017
Sponge Bob Square Pants, Pac Man, and Curious George, all sporting a particularly Native American twist, are just a few images from popular mainstream culture seen in the exhibition, Into the Future: Culture Power in Native American Art. The free to the public opening for Into the Future: Culture Power in Native American Art at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is on July 17, 2016 from 1 to 4 pm and the show runs through October 22, 2017. Featuring nearly 100 objects by more than fifty artists from the museum’s collections as well as others borrowed from collectors and artists, the work on view in Into the Future will be in such various media as traditional clothing and jewelry, pottery and weaving, photography and video, through to comics, and on into cyberspace.  


 

Landscape of an Artist: Living Treasure Dan Namingha
March 20, 2016 through September 11, 2016
Public Opening on Sunday, March 20, 2016 Screening of Dan Namingha: Seeking Center in Two Worlds at 1:00p.m. Q&A with Dan Namingha at 2:00p.m. Every year at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Native Treasures: Indian Arts Festival, the museum chooses to honor an artist as a MIAC Living Treasure. This year, Dan Namingha (Hopi-Tewa) is being honored as the MIAC Living Treasure and 2016 Native Treasures Featured Artist. Born and raised on the Hopi reservation, Dan Namingha’s work is inspired by the Southwest region and subjects within his culture. For the past five decades his work has continuously evolved as he has refined his studio practice by experimenting with different mediums and techniques.  Throughout this evolution, Namingha has employed alterations and abstractions to give the viewer a mere impression or glimpse of the subjects and landscapes.  This process allows him to share sacred aspects of his culture in familiar forms with the public, while still protecting the sanctity of his Hopi and Tewa culture. Namingha’s work has garnered praise and has been well received on both the national and international art scene at numerous exhibitions. This March, MIAC invites you to help us honor Namingha’s achievements and explore the Landscape of an Artist: Living Treasure Dan Namingha.


 

The Life and Art of Innovative Native American Artist and Designer Lloyd Kiva New
February 14, 2016 through December 30, 2016
This year is the centennial of the birth of seminal Native American artist Lloyd Kiva New, and three Santa Fe arts institutions are celebrating this anniversary in style. Locally, New, a Cherokee, is known as the Institute of American Indian Art’s (IAIA) first artistic director, yet nationally, Native people refer to him as the "Godfather of Native Fashion." Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s career retrospective A New Century: The Life and Legacy of Cherokee Artist and Educator Lloyd "Kiva" New (February 14 through December 30, 2016). A New Century is a mesmerizing look into New’s storied life from his humble beginnings on the family farm in Oklahoma to the burgeoning days at IAIA. In between he strides the decks of the USS Sanborn during World War II and the halls of the Art Institute of Chicago. Opening successive and successful boutiques and craft centers in the gleaming post-war enclave of Scottsdale, Arizona. New was a pioneer in the worlds of fashion, entrepreneurship, and Native art instruction. His vision of cultural studies and creative arts education continues to influence and inspire. Through personal recollections, photos, archival documents, and objects pour la couture, New Century: The Life and Legacy of Cherokee Artist and Educator Lloyd "Kiva" New reviews the life of this American Indian visionary. The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, and the New Mexico Museum of Art will each present an exhibition in 2016 focusing on key aspects of Lloyd Kiva New’s (b. 1916 - d. 2002) significant contributions to contemporary Native culture. Additionally, the three institutions are planning a symposium, multiple lectures, panel discussions, a fashion show, Gala, and, as pure celebration, a 100th birthday party.


 

Oblique Views: Archaeology, Photography, and Time
October 25, 2015 through May 7, 2017
For the first time in Oblique Views: Archaeology, Photography, and Time, large prints of Heisey’s stunning images will be paired directly with the Lindberghs’. The exhibition opens October 25, 2015 and runs through May 7, 2017 at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. During 2007 and 2008, flying at alarmingly low altitudes and slow speeds, Adriel Heisey leaned out the door of his light plane, and holding his camera with both hands, re-photographed some of the Southwest’s most significant archaeological sites that Charles Lindbergh and his new bride Anne photographed in 1929.


 

Indian Country: The Art of David Bradley
February 15, 2015 through January 16, 2016
Indian Country: The Art of David Bradley opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture February 15, 2015 and runs through January 16 2016. On view will be 32 works of art spanning his career, including paintings, mixed media works, and bronze sculptures.


 

Courage and Compassion: Native Women Sculpting Women
November 2, 2014 through October 19, 2015
First exhibit of its kind featuring leading American Indian Women sculptors of 20th and 21st centuries   Courage and Compassion: Native Women Sculpting Women opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Nov. 2, 2014 and runs through Oct. 19, 2015. The exhibition features figures of women sculpted by seven American Indian women artists.  Most of the ten works on view will be in the museum’s outdoor Roland Sculpture Garden. There is a long history of sculpting among the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The artists in Courage and Compassion, while contemporary in their approach are steeped in tradition. Using the same materials as their ancestors did thousands of years ago, the works presented draw on cultural influences of those who have gone before


 

Footprints: The Inspiration and Influence of Allan Houser
August 3, 2014 through June 1, 2015
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is proud to honor the hundreth birth year of Allan Houser with this exhibition of his sculptures and those of thirteen Native American artists whose lives he changed forever. Larry Ahvakana, Don Chunestudey, Cliff Fragua, Craig Dan Goseyun, Rollie Grandbois, Bob Haozous, Phillip Mangas Haozous, Doug Hyde, Oreland Joe, Tony Lee, Estella Loretto, Bill Prokopiof and Robert Shorty


 

Turquoise, Water, Sky: The Stone and Its Meaning
April 13, 2014 through May 30, 2016
Turquoise, Water, Sky: The Stone and Its Meaning highlights the Museum’s extensive collection of Southwestern turquoise jewelry and presents all aspects of the stone, from geology, mining and history, to questions of authenticity and value. Hundreds of necklaces, bracelets, belts, rings, earrings, silver boxes and other objects illustrate the stone’s use and its deep significance to the people of the region.  


 

Native American Portraits: Points of Inquiry
February 16, 2014 through January 5, 2015
More than 50 images from the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives  - along with contemporary images by Native photographers - document the changing perceptions of Native peoples over a span of almost 100 years.


 

Triumph TR8 in MIAC lobby
October 27, 2013 through December 30, 2013
A 1974 Triumph TRB decorated by Hopi Tewa artist Dan Namingha and nine other Native American artists is parked in the lobby of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC), a symbol of a broadened approach by the museum to create partnerships with other area institutions that share a mission in honoring and perpetuating Native art and education. Just as 10 artists collaborated to turn the car into an art piece, now MIAC is collaborating with the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) to ensure Native American students are prepared to fill positions at museums that reflect their peoples’ art and culture. Gift of Elizabeth Sackler and on view in MIAC lobby.


 

Heartbeat: Music of the Native Southwest
September 29, 2013 through September 8, 2015
A celebration of sight, sound, and activity for visitors of all ages, Heartbeat: Music of the Native Southwest, opens Sunday, September 29, 2013 at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Over 100 objects relating to Southwestern Native dance and music will be featured, including a flute made by Grammy award-winning artist Robert Mirabal of Taos Pueblo. Collectively used for indigenous ritual performance, the drums, flutes, rasps, rattles, and clothing featured in the exhibition convey a richly layered message. Music, too, is integral to the ceremony—it is more than accompaniment for the dancers; each song is a prayer providing a pathway to the here and now and to the worlds beyond. The opening on Sunday, September 29, 2013 from 1 to 4 p.m. will feature performances, demonstrations, hands-on activities for the entire family, and refreshments provided by the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico.


 

What’s New in New: Recent Acquisitions
February 17, 2013 through December 30, 2013
What’s New in New: Recent Acquisitions is the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s annual exhibition of new acquisitions celebrating the gallery’s namesake, Lloyd Kiva New. What’s New in New opens on Sunday, February 17, 2013 from 1 to 4 p.m. and runs through December 30, 2013. The Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico will serve refreshments in honor of Kiva New’s birthday anniversary. Curator Tony Chavarria’s focus with this show is on modern and contemporary Native art including paintings, monotypes, poetry, and sculpture created between 1968 and 2012.


 

They Wove for Horses: Diné Saddle Blankets
March 25, 2012 through August 18, 2013
They Wove for Horses: Diné Saddle Blankets opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on March 25, 2012 (on long-term view). The exhibition highlights both the textile-weaving proficiency of Diné weavers who produced complex saddle blankets for all occasions and the design skills of Diné silversmiths who created dazzling headstalls of silver and turquoise.The saddle blankets on exhibit date from 1860 to 2002 and are arranged by weaving methods: tapestry weave; two-faced double weave; and twill weaves of diagonal, diamond, and herringbone patterns. By using a variety of warp and weft yarns—natural wool, cotton, angora mohair, unraveled bayeta, and Germantown—weavers added individuality to the everyday and fanciful tapestries they created for horses.Horse trappings on exhibit reveal the great pride that Diné horsemen took in their horses and how they adorned them for ceremonial and social events. The Diné first learned how to manufacture saddles and bridles from neighboring cultures and their proficiency quickly surpassed that of their mentors. That devotion resonates still, as the horse remains a viable living force in Diné life today.


 

Margarete Bagshaw: Breaking the Rules
February 12, 2012 through December 30, 2012
Margarete Bagshaw: Breaking the Rules features more than 30 paintings (some on sculpted wood panels), bronze and clay as wall art and multi-colored ceramic vessels that demonstrate the breadth and multi-dimensionality of Margarete Bagshaw's work.


 

Woven Identities
November 20, 2011 through February 24, 2014
Woven Identities features baskets woven by artists representing 60 cultural groups in six culture areas of Western North America: The Southwest, Great Basin, Plateau, California, the Northwest Coast, and the Arctic.All objects tell a story, if you know the right questions to ask. At the time the baskets in this exhibition were collected little to no information was recorded; the weaver’s names are largely unknown. Nonetheless, each basket has an identity, a woven identity. The identity of each basket—where it was made; when it was made; who made it; who it was made for; why it was made—by “reading” its individual characteristics. 


 

Creative Spark! : The Life and Art of Tony Da
February 13, 2011 through December 31, 2011
Creative Spark: The Life and Art of Tony Da is the artist’s first comprehensive museum retrospective. On view will be the largest group of Da’s paintings and pottery ever gathered in one place. The exhibition opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on February 13, 2011 running through December 31, 2011.


 

Huichol Art and Culture: Balancing the World
April 11, 2010 through February 12, 2012
For the first time, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology presents a significant collection of Huichol art from the early part of the last century in Huichol Art and Culture: Balancing the World. The exhibition opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture April 11, 2010 and  has now been extended to run through February 12, 2012. There are important ties between Huichol work and Native American, prehispanic, and Hispanic art histories and cultures. Known today for colorful, decorative yarn paintings, the origins of modern Huichol art are found in the earlier Huichol religious arts of the Robert M. Zingg ethnographic collection at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.


 

Harry Fonseca: In the Silence of Dusk
February 14, 2010 through January 2, 2011
The exhibition Harry Fonseca: In the Silence of Dusk  focuses on four series of paintings that explore the transformative and mythic forces that Fonseca perceived in himself and the world around him. The painting series include In the Silence of Dusk, Stone Poems, St. Francis of Assisi; and Seasons. While not a retrospective, the exhibition explores Fonseca’s body of work as it changes focus from stylized but representational studies based on his Native American heritage to more abstract explorations of his world to non-objective compositions celebrating color. All of the works in the exhibition are courtesy of the Harry Fonseca Trust. The exhibition opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on Sunday, February 14, 2010, 1:00-4:00 p.m. and runs through January 2, 2011.


 

Native Couture II: Innovation and Style
August 30, 2009 through February 21, 2010
Native Couture II: Innovation and Style opens at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on Sunday, August 30, 2009. This exhibition explores the history of Native fashion from hand-made clothing and accessories of the 1880s that influenced the development of a Santa Fe Style, to today’s contemporary Native couturiers. At its root, Indian art is the quintessential original American art. This centuries-long influence of Native American art requires the buyer, or wearer, and the American public in general to ponder the origins of a truly unique American style.


 

Native American Picture Books of Change
February 15, 2009 through January 2, 2010
Native American Picture Books of Change—is an exhibition of original works by Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo artists who illustrated children's books in the 1920's through today. Based on the book of the same title by Rebecca Benes, the exhibition focuses on illustrations in Native American children’s books of the last century. Emerging Indian artists illustrated the stories for Indian students based on Native oral traditions and narratives about everyday Indian life.


 

A River Apart
October 19, 2008 through October 2, 2011
Two major rivers and their tributaries - the Colorado River and the Rio Grande - have shaped both the landscape and the distribution of indigenous villages. Neighboring New Mexico pueblos on the banks of the northern Rio Grande - just a river apart - the communities of Cochiti and Santo Domingo share a ceramic tradition extending back almost 1,500 years. This permanent collection - A River Apart - preserves these iconic cultural representatives.


 

Comic Art Indigène
May 11, 2008 through January 4, 2009
Comic Art Indigène looks at how storytelling has been used through comics and comic inspired art to express the contemporary Native American experience.


 

Native Couture
December 16, 2007 through April 21, 2009
Santa Fe style represents a state of mind, it is not just jewelry and clothing but a feeling inside, a sense of place and that total belief in the Navajo saying, “Walk in beauty.”


 

Spider Woman’s (NA ASHJE’II ’ASDZÁÁ) Gift
May 14, 2007 through September 2, 2007
Spider Woman’s (Na ashje’ii 'Asdzáá) Gift: Navajo Weaving Traditions, a long-term exhibition, features weavings from the 1850s through the 1890s—the Classic and Transitional periods.





Now on Exhibit

Here, Now and Always

July 2, 2022 through July 2, 2028

Horizons: Weaving Between the Lines with Dine Textiles
Masterpieces Gallery

July 16, 2023 through February 2, 2025

Painted by Hand: The Textiles of Patricia Michaels

May 5, 2024 through April 5, 2025