Native News

An exterior view of the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts receives major accreditation

Santa Fe, NM
The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts has achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition in the country for museums. Accreditation, which is given after rigorous examination of an institution’s policies and procedures, signifies excellence to the museum community and the public, as well as to governments, funders and outside agencies. “I’m so pleased that MoCNA has received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. This recognition acknowledges the museum staff’s dedication, commitment and high standards in all that we do,” says museum director Patsy Phillips.

A historic artifact of the Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma, one of the many objects that will be on display at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Exhibition of Spiro Mounds objects

Oklahoma City, OK
The National Endowment for the Humanities’ has awarded a $400,000 grant to support the exhibition Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The exhibition, which is the first major presentation on the Spiro Mounds ever undertaken by a museum, will begin February 12 and runs through May 16, 2021. Visitors will be able to learn about and view the art, history and culture of the Spiro people from approximately 200 objects on display. The exhibition will then travel to the Birmingham Museum of Art, followed by the Dallas Museum of Art.

Sioux, Hidatsa or Arikara artist, Man’s Moccasins, ca. 1882, hide and dyed porcupine twill, 107⁄16 x 315⁄16”. Brooklyn Museum. Anonymous gift in memory of Dr. Harlow Brooks, 43.201.66a-b. Photo courtesy Brooklyn Museum.

Jeffrey Gibson at Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn, NY
An exhibition of artwork by Cherokee and Choctaw artist Jeffrey Gibson will be on view at the Brooklyn Museum in New York through January 2021. Gibson—who incorporates various elements of Native American art and craft into his mixed media works—has also selected a number of objects and artwork from the Brooklyn Museum collection that are complementary of his own work. The show, titled Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks, provides a contemporary lens through which to view historic works by both Native and non-Native peoples.

Gerald Clarke in his Anza studio branding works on paper in July 2019. Photo by Ian Byers-Gamber.

Gerald Clarke: Falling Rock

Palm Springs, CA
On view at Palm Springs Art Museum is the diverse artwork of sculptor and conceptual artist Gerald Clarke, a member of the Cahuilla Band of Indians. From paintings, stamp work and road signs, to sculpture, coiled basketry and his Branded Series (a series of prints and branding irons), Clarke is a renaissance man of artistic expression. While the show is expected to remain on view through May 31, visitors should check the Palm Springs Art Museum at www.psmuseum.org for updates on exhibition dates.