Coloradans will have the chance to learn about Indigenous peoples’ resilience, diversity and creativity have sustained them, thanks to a new exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.
On view through 2025, the “SUSTAINED! The Persistent Genius of Indigenous Art” exhibit investigates the ways Native people have been sustained by beauty, connections, and spirituality. The exhibit traces those themes through fashion, family, ancestors, and the reasons people gather, like games, ceremonies and dance.
Among the objects at “SUSTAINED! The Persistent Genius of Indigenous Art” include a dress by fashion designer Orlando Dugi, a pair of Jaatłoh4Ye’iitsoh or Earrings for the Gods by Eric Paul Riege, paintings, and more.
The exhibit was designed in conjunction with a panel of seven Indigenous community members who worked with the museum to create an exhibition that would be meaningful to themselves and their communities.
“Indigenous people have thrived regardless of the tumult and hardships they have faced throughout history and SUSTAINED! is our museum’s celebration of their resilience and strength, uplifting Native arts and cultures as living and flourishing, which is a priority for our museum and community,” said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum in a release. “We look forward to presenting this compelling and boundary-pushing exhibition and welcoming our community to enjoy it and experience it throughout the year.”
The Denver Art Museum’s Native Arts Department has spent decades building its Indigenous Arts of North America Collection. In 2023, the museum acquired 156 art pieces by Indigenous artists from North America. The Denver Art Museum is one of the first art museums in the country to collect Indigenous artworks from North America.
In total, the Denver Art Museum’s Indigenous Arts Collection includes more than 18,000 works. The museum dedicates more than 20,000 square feet of gallery space in its Lanny and Sharon Martin Building to its Indigenous Arts Collection.
The Denver Art Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. For more information about ticket prices and to plan your visit, go to denverartmuseum.org.
“The (Denver Art Museum) owes our reputation as a leader in the collection and display of Native Arts to the creativity of the original inhabitants of today’s United States and Canada. Our collections are the result of the hard work and dedication of ancestors that kept Native traditions, stories, and artistry alive for future generations,” said Dakota Hoska, Associate Curator of Native Arts in the release. “Our past and future rest on the skills of artists who learned from family members and embraced innovation, creating contemporary works at every moment in time. Our efforts are supported by Indigenous community members who during the last 100 years served as educators, advisors, liaisons, and council members for the museum. Our destinies are deeply and appreciatively intertwined.”
