Jaune Quick-to-See Smith curates NGA exhibition

Weeks after announcing its first acquisition of a painting by Ojibwe artist George Morrison, the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, announces another first: its first exhibition curated by an artist. Opening in September, The Land Carries Our Ancestors: Contemporary Art by Native Americans is curated by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation of Montana. Showcasing around 50 living artists, the exhibition will include works in weaving, sculpture, beadwork, painting, performance, drawing, video, and other media that help “visualize Indigenous knowledge of land/landbase/landscape.”

The NGA’s first exhibition of Native art in three decades, The Land Carries Our Ancestors will include work by Cara Romero (Chemehuevi Indian Tribe), Marie Watt (Seneca), and Emmi Whitehorse (Diné), among others.

After its premiere at the National Gallery (September 24, 2023–January 15, 2024), the exhibition will travel to New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut (April 18–September 15, 2024).