New installation of Native American art was collaboratively developed by a group of predominantly Native co-curators, foregrounding Indigenous values and voices

Contemporary artworks, including new acquisitions and commissions, will be on view alongside ancestral works, demonstrating interconnection between artists past and present

The suite of four galleries reopens August 26, and the opening will be celebrated with a free, daylong community event on September 13

SAN FRANCISCO, August 19, 2025 — The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (the “Fine Arts Museums”) will open a new presentation of Native American art at the de Young museum, celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of Indigenous arts of the Americas. Visitors will experience works spanning over a thousand years of history and incorporating many diverse types of media, challenging expectations about what Native art is and can be. 

Exploring different aspects of the theme of “Relationship to Place,” the reopened Arts of Indigenous America galleries feature beloved highlights from the permanent collection alongside lesser-known artworks. The presentation also includes new major acquisitions and commissions made specifically for this installation by celebrated contemporary artists.

Arts of Indigenous America have been part of the Fine Arts Museums’ collection since the de Young’s founding in 1895. Native American art forms a significant portion of these holdings, and the Fine Arts Museums steward the collection with regard to both museum and cultural best practices. These practices include partnership and consultation with Indigenous scholars and communities of origin. The reinstallation of these galleries marks the culmination of this work.

“The reconceived Arts of Indigenous America galleries embody our ongoing commitment to building lasting collaborative partnerships with Indigenous communities to better care for and share our collections,” said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “The Bay Area has long been an axis for Indigenous activism, and we are proud that this project honors that legacy by centering the voices of our Indigenous partners. This spirit of collaboration has had a transformational effect in our newly reinstalled galleries, where visitors may find their understanding of Native art expanded by our presentation of works that span time and media.”

The previous presentation of Native American art had been on view since 2017. That exhibition reflected best practices in cultural heritage interpretation at the time, but significant shifts in museum practices since then have allowed the Museums to better center the perspectives, research, and counsel of Indigenous collaborators now.

These shifts influenced the development of the new galleries. Rather than soliciting feedback on an already developed exhibition, the Fine Arts Museums engaged Indigenous scholars as co-curators and advisers from the project’s conception, shifting the power of representation away from an anonymous museum voice of authority. The works on view are also included in consultation with communities of origin.

“We consult with communities of origin to determine how to care for the artworks and cultural items in the collection, and which are appropriate to share with the public,” said Hillary C. Olcott, Curator of Arts of the Americas at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “The curatorial team has chosen to frame these items through neither an art historical nor an anthropological lens, but rather a blend of the two. We have also opted for a multivocal interpretative framework instead of a single curatorial perspective. Our hope is that this will bring a liveliness to the galleries and will re-center people within the stories of this art.”

The entire four-gallery Arts of Indigenous America presentation at the de Young museum has been refreshed. In addition to the two completely new galleries for Native American art, galleries that feature Ancestral Maya art and mural fragments from the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan have also been updated for the reopening.

The opening of contemporary, Native American exhibition Rose B. Simpson: LEXICON—scheduled for August 30 in Wilsey Court—will coincide with the opening of the newly renovated Native American art galleries.

Rooted in Place (Gallery 1)

The first gallery in the Arts of Indigenous Americas suite highlights Native California and, through rotating exhibitions, will focus on specific regions within the state. 

The inaugural installation, Rooted in Place: California Native Art, explores the interconnection between art, ceremony, and the land in the Hupa, Karuk, Tolowa, Wiyot, and Yurok communities of northwestern California. It includes loans from contemporary artists alongside collection works such as the beautiful gift basket by Elizabeth Hickox (Wiyot, 1872–1947); a specially commissioned dentalium-shell cape by regalia maker and fashion designer Shoshoni Gensaw-Hostler (Yurok, b. 1982); and the newly acquired monumental painting The Magical Mind in Rural America, by Rick Bartow (Wiyot, 1946–2016). Rooted in Place will be on view through December 2026, and the next gallery rotation will focus on a different region of Native California.

Home and Away (Gallery 4)

The second reenvisioned Native American art gallery features artworks made by Indigenous artists from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, challenging the divisions created by modern political boundaries. Home and Away: Native American Art is arranged thematically rather than geographically and explores the interconnection between communities, homelands, systems of knowledge, and generations past, present, and future.

Contemporary artworks, including major commissions from celebrated artists like Melissa S. Cody (Diné, b. 1983) and Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Lakota, b. 1979), are presented alongside compelling historic items, offering deeper and more nuanced contexts and celebrating the continuation of ancestral practices and forms. The gallery also includes a wide variety of media—ceramics, textiles, paintings, beadwork, carvings, works on paper, and basketry—embodying the breadth of Native American art.

As part of the project, the Fine Art Museums asked permission from communities of origin to present the artworks on view, and Tribes were invited to consult on the interpretation of the items from their communities. The works within the gallery will rotate over time, ensuring that the presentation remains dynamic and that different areas of the collection, including other new acquisitions and commissions, can be shared with the public.

Ancestral Maya Art and Murals from Teotihuacan (Galleries 2 and 3)

The two remaining galleries in the Arts of Indigenous America suite have been refreshed as well. Gallery 2, Of Courts and Cosmos: Ancestral Maya Art, remains dedicated to presenting ceramics and carvings from the Fine Arts Museums’ substantial collection of Ancestral Maya art, and includes a selection of recently donated pottery. Gallery 3 highlights the Fine Arts Museums’ noted collection of mural fragments from Teotihuacan, Mexico, which once decorated the interior walls of elite residences in the ancient metropolis. The installation offers archaeological perspectives about the mural fragments and details the history of collaborative conservation and analysis between the Fine Arts Museums and the government of Mexico.

Opening Celebration, September 13

Visitors are encouraged to join organizers in celebrating the opening of the new Native American art galleries. This free, daylong opening celebration will include a symposium, talks, performances, and music from contemporary Indigenous artists.

More details here.

Co-Curators

Joseph Aguilar, PhD (San Ildefonso Pueblo)
Archaeologist; Board Member and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Pueblo of San Ildefonso

Meyokeeskow Marrufo (Robinson Rancheria/Eastern Pomo)
Curator; Multimedia Artist 

Hillary C. Olcott
Curator, Arts of the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Will Riding In (Pawnee/Santa Ana Pueblo)
Curator, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian 

Sherrie Smith-Ferri, PhD (Dry Creek Pomo/Bodega Miwok)
Curator; Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians 

Advisers

Alme Allen (Karuk/Yurok)
Artist; Cultural Consultant; Executive Director, Spawning Ground

Bruce Bernstein, PhD
Senior Scholar, School for Advanced Research

Jonathan Cordero, PhD (Ramaytush Ohlone, Bay Miwok, and Chumash)
Executive Director, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone

Christina Hellmich, PhD
Curator in Charge of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 

Pimm Tripp-Allen (Karuk/Yurok)
Vice President of Community Partnerships and Tribal Relations, Humboldt Area Foundation

Brian Vallo (Pueblo of Acoma)
Cultural Consultant 

More information about co-curators and advisers is here.

Exhibition Support 

The reinstallation project is generously supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, the Thomas W. Weisel Family, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the San Francisco Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums, and Leslie and George Hume and represents the largest amount of grant funding a permanent-collection reinstallation has received to date. Programmatic support is provided through major support from the CORA Foundation.

About the Art of the Americas Collection and Program 

Indigenous art of the Americas has been part of the museum collection since the time of the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, and the holdings have grown substantially and steadily throughout the 20th century and beyond. A strength in the collection is artworks by Native artists from western North America. In the mid-20th century, many Bay Area collectors donated Native American works, namely baskets from California and the Pacific Northwest. These holdings were greatly enhanced by a generous donation from the Thomas W. Weisel family in 2013, including Ancestral ceramics by Pueblo potters, textiles by Diné (Navajo) weavers, and carvings and regalia from the Pacific Northwest. Extraordinary examples of contemporary Pueblo pottery were donated to the Fine Arts Museums by Paul E. and Barbara H. Weiss, and another transformative gift came in 2007 from the estate of Thomas G. Fowler, who collected nearly 400 works by Alaska Native and Canadian Inuit artists, past and present.

About the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the de Young in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in San Francisco.

The de Young museum originated from the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition in Golden Gate Park. The present copper-clad landmark building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, opened in 2005. Reflecting an active conversation among cultures, perspectives, and time periods, the collections on view include American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the 17th to the 21st centuries; arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; costume and textile arts; and international modern and contemporary art. 

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are located on land unceded by the Ramaytush Ohlone, who are the original inhabitants of what is now the San Francisco Peninsula. The greater Bay Area is also the ancestral territory of other Ohlone peoples, as well as the Miwok, Yokuts, and Patwin. We acknowledge, recognize, and honor the Indigenous ancestors, elders, and descendants whose nations and communities have lived in the Bay Area over many generations and continue to do so today. We respect the enduring relationships that exist between Indigenous peoples and their homelands. We are committed to partnering with Indigenous communities to raise awareness of their legacy and engage with the history of the region, the impacts of genocide, and the dynamics of settler colonialism that persist today.

Media Contact

Press Office / press@famsf.org