Tuesday, June 23, 2026
1:00-5:00PM
The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
1 E 78th Street
New York, NY 10075
A half-day symposium exploring living and evolving practices in contemporary art as shaped by history, sovereignty, and education.
The American Federation of Arts invites you to join us for ArtViews: Perspectives in Contemporary Native Art, an afternoon of critical dialogue bringing together artists, curators, scholars, and cultural leaders, including:
- Neal Ambrose-Smith (descendant of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation of Montana), contemporary Native American painter, sculptor, and printmaker
- Nathaniel Cummings-Lambert (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), artist, filmmaker, and PhD candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology at NYU
- Sage Innerarity (Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California), Native American Fellowship Program Director at the Peabody Essex Museum
- Petala Ironcloud (Lakota, Dakota), Native art critic and writer
- Brian Johnson (Monacan Indian Nation), curator, writer, founder of BIPOC Design History and Partner at Polymode.
- Danyelle Means (Oglala Lakota), Executive Director of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC)
- Alan Michelson (Mohawk, Six Nations of the Grand River), Native artist, curator, writer, and lecturer
- Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), Native artist, musician, and performer
- Jordan Poorman Cocker (Kiowa Tribe and Kingdom of Tonga), Curator of Indigenous Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
- Grace Rosario Perkins (Diné/Akimel O’odham), multidisciplinary artist
- Dare Turner (Yurok Tribe), Curator of Indigenous Art at the Brooklyn Museum
This symposium is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art and organized in collaboration with Brian Johnson (Monacan Indian Nation), curator, writer, Founder of BIPOC Design History and Partner at Polymode. Panel topics and additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
This event is free and open to the public. Register today to reserve your seat!
For questions or additional information, please contact events@amfedarts.org.
If you are able, we invite you to make a donation in support of the AFA, so we can continue offering free programs like this to the public.
Image: Neal Ambrose-Smith. Coyote Explains to Max, 2019. Courtesy the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery
ArtViews: Perspectives in Contemporary Native Art is made possible through the support of Terra Foundation for American Art. AFA programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. These programs are also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. We are also grateful for the generous support of Berkley Asset Protection and Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation.
