Join us on Friday, April 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm for the opening reception of the 2025–2026 IAIA BFA Exhibition: “Rooted in Relation” at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA).Indigenous life has never been static.
Across generations, Native artists have adapted materials, forms, and ideas in response to shifting histories while remaining grounded in enduring relationships—to land, family, community, and spirit. “Rooted in Relation” brings together emerging artists from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) whose practices affirm that Native art is not confined to the past but dynamically engaged with the present.
Working across painting, photography, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, basketry, digital media, and printmaking, the artists in this exhibition draw upon Ancestral knowledge while embracing experimentation and new technologies. Traditional motifs appear alongside contemporary symbols; oral histories intersect with personal narrative; hand processes converse with digital tools.
These works do not reject tradition—they expand it.Central to many of these practices is the role of matriarchs and maternal lineages. Mothers, grandmothers, and aunts emerge as cultural bearers, teachers, and sources of resilience. Their presence shapes portraits, patterns, and forms that honor creation, care, and continuity. Through these gestures, the artists position artmaking as an act of love, responsibility, and intergenerational healing.
Themes of identity, healing, cultural traditions, sovereignty, storytelling, and environmental connection are presented through a contemporary lens. “Rooted in Relation” celebrates this momentum: a new generation grounded in where they come from, and clear-eyed about where they are going.The exhibition is co-curated by IAIA student curator Imogene Scheele (Nome Eskimo and Iñupiat), IAIA student preparator Ixel Janine (White Earth Nation Descendant and Tzotzil Maya), and IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) Curatorial Assistant Stephanie Stewart (Navajo and Kiowa).For more information, please contact the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) Curatorial Assistant Stephanie Stewart (Navajo and Kiowa) at sstewart@iaia.edu
or (505) 428-5927.Participating ArtistsJuniper Rose Anderson (Navajo and Ho-Chunk)
Celia Calabaza (Jicarilla Apache and Santa Domingo Pueblo)
Michael Calico (Oglala Lakota and Isleta Pueblo)
Laney Cully (Cherokee Nation)
Kashelle Davon (Navajo Nation)
Lavina Gray (Mohawk)
Camryn Ahhaitty Growing Thunder (Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux)
Tessema A. Meredith (Samoan)
Lina Montoya (Jicarilla Apache and Navajo)
Pat Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo and Chiricahua Apache)
Ethan Sombrero (Navajo)
Tawny Townsend (Navajo)
Jasmine Valencia (San Felipe Pueblo and Santo Domingo Pueblo)
Patrick Willink (Diné)Image: Kashelle Davon (Navajo Nation), “Star Woman,” 2024, acrylic on canvas, 30” x 30”, photograph courtesy of the artisthttps://iaia.edu/.../iaia-2026-bfa-exhibition-opening.../