The Indigenous peoples of North America—like their counterparts all over the world—have a rich and varied history of creativity reflected in stunning baskets and clay pots, rugs, beadwork, jewelry, intricately embroidered garments, and more. Today, Native American art has achieved an unprecedented level of recognition, thanks in part to venues like the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Meanwhile, contemporary Indigenous artists produce both 21st-century variations on age-old tribal traditions as well as highly experimental paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, installations, and performance pieces.
In 2024, the multimedia artist Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke/Crow) was awarded a fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation, and painter and sculptor Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee) became the first Indigenous person to represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale. Like their peers, works by these artists combine reverence, humor, political protest, and aesthetic beauty with original perspectives.
Art historian Nancy G. Heller, emerita professor of art history at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, surveys the most significant work by contemporary Native artists from the U.S. and Canada, placing it in a broader socio-political context and celebrating the accomplishments of North American Indian artists.
General Information
