See the First Exhibition to Feature the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Native American Prints, Drawings, and Photos

Cleveland (January 30, 2026)—Featuring the unique histories and perspectives of Indigenous artists from several backgrounds and tribal affiliations, still/emerging: Native American Works on Paper is the Cleveland Museum of Art’s (CMA) first exhibition to highlight its collection of prints and drawings by Native American artists. This free exhibition is on view from Sunday, February 1, through Sunday, June 7, 2026, in the James and Hanna Bartlett Prints and Drawings Galleries. 

“In 2022, the creation of the museum’s Indigenous Peoples and Land Acknowledgment inspired a commitment to greatly strengthen its holdings in this important field,” said Nadiah Rivera Fellah, curator of contemporary art and cocurator of the exhibition. “The title of this show comes from a poem on Indigenous survivance by Navajo poet Kinsale Drake and references the fact that the CMA land acknowledgment serves ‘not as an end but rather as the beginning’ of an ongoing collaboration with our Native community members.” 

The objects on view survey the ways in which Native artists have innovatively used various print and drawing techniques to explore their cultural heritage. Notable works in the collection range from a series of powerful woodcut portraits by T. C. Cannon (Kiowa-Caddo, 1946–1978) to a set of deeply symbolic color lithographs by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, 1940–2025). The presentation also includes work by multimedia artists, such as Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke/Crow, b. 1981), Kay WalkingStick (American, Member of the Cherokee Nation / Oklahoma, b. 1935), Nicholas Galanin (Tlingít/Unangax̂, b. 1979), Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations, b. 1954), and Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1983), among others, to shed new light on the importance of the graphic arts within their contemporary practices.  

Community voice labels by members of the museum’s Native American Advisory Committee and broader community, who have been involved in the museum’s efforts, highlight the local impact of this growing collection at the CMA. 

“This exhibition is the culmination of three years of intentional collecting of works on paper made by Native American artists,” said Britany Salsbury, curator of prints and drawings and the exhibition’s cocurator. “Thanks to these additions, we can share broader stories that encompass a range of human experiences and share the innovative print and drawing techniques the featured artists used to explore their cultural heritage.” 

This exhibition is made possible with support from the Malcolm E. Kenney Curatorial Research Fund.  

All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder, the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation, the John and Jeanette Walton Exhibition Fund, and Margaret and Loyal Wilson. Major annual support is provided by the late Dick Blum and Harriet Warm and the Frankino-Dodero Family Fund for Exhibitions Endowment. Generous annual support is provided by two anonymous donors, Gini and Randy Barbato, Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Brenda and Marshall Brown, Gail and Bill Calfee, the Leigh H. Carter family, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Mary and Jim Conway, Joseph and Susan Corsaro, Ron and Cheryl Davis, Richard and Dian Disantis, the Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memory of Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Leigh and Andy Fabens, Florence Kahane Goodman, Martha H. and Steven M. Hale, Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Linda Harper, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., the estate of Walter and Jean Kalberer, Jane and Doug Kern, the late Mrs. Nancy M. Lavelle, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, William S. Lipscomb, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Roy Minoff Family Fund, Lu Anne and the late Carl Morrison, Mrs. Peta and the late Dr. Roland Moskowitz, Jeffrey Mostade and Eric Nilson and Varun Shetty, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, Tim O’Brien and Breck Platner, Dr. Nicholas and Anne Ogan, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, Henry Ott-Hansen, the Pickering Foundation, Frank and Fran Porter, Christine Fae Powell, Peter and Julie Raskind, Michael and Cindy Resch, Marguerite and James Rigby, in memory of Dee Schafer, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, Elizabeth and Tim Sheeler, Saundra K. Stemen, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Claudia Woods and David Osage.  

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About the Cleveland Museum of Art 

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovation. One of the foremost encyclopedic art museums in the United States, the CMA is recognized for its award-winning open access program—which provides free digital access to images and information about works in the museum’s collection—and is free of charge to all. The museum is located in the University Circle neighborhood with two satellite locations on Cleveland’s west side: the Community Arts Center and Transformer Station. 

The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs, and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.