Expert Series: “Beneath the Surface”
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Join photographers Will Wilson (Citizen of the Navajo Nation), Cara Romaro (Chemehuevi), and Dakota Mace (Diné), featured artists in Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography, as they discuss how photographers bring visibility to the often-hidden worlds of mining, drilling, and fracking. Facilitated by photographer and member of MAM’s Native Initiatives Advisory Group, Jami Balicki (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin / Mohawk), this artist-led conversation brings together an intergenerational group of artists for an unscripted conversation on aesthetics, activism, and artistic practice—examining how photography reveals the industries shaping our landscapes, communities, and everyday lives.
The Expert Series welcomes renowned artists, scholars, and cultural activators to the Museum for expansive dialogues that dive deeper into an exhibition, artist, or theme. This drop-in experience is included with Museum admission. On Thursday nights from 4 to 8 p.m., admission is pay-what-you-wish at the door, while tickets purchased online in advance are full price. The Milwaukee Art Museum is grateful to its exhibition sponsors.
Meet the experts:
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi Indian Tribe) is a fine art photographer whose work blends documentary and commercial aesthetics to create stories drawn from intertribal knowledge. Her images explore the intersections of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and futurity. Romero has presented solo exhibitions across the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, with recent group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her public art projects include #TONGVALAND in Los Angeles, Restoration: Now or Never in London, and Desert X in the Coachella Valley. Her photographs are held in major collections, including the Denver Art Museum, MoMA, LACMA, and The Met. Raised between California’s Mojave Desert and Houston, Romero is based in Santa Fe.
Dakota Mace (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work translates Diné history and beliefs through alternative photography techniques, weaving, beadwork, and papermaking. Her practice draws on her heritage to explore family lineage, community, and identity while expanding understandings of Diné culture. Mace earned her MA and MFA in Photography and Textile Design from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her BFA in Photography from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has collaborated with institutions and programs to encourage dialogue around cultural appropriation and Indigenous design. Mace is an MFA Studio Arts faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her work is included in major collections, including the Library of Congress, Whitney Museum of American Art, and National Gallery of Art.
Will Wilson is a Diné photographer and trans-customary artist whose work brings Indigenous practices into dialogue with photography, performance, installation, and technology. Raised on the Navajo Nation, his practice centers environmental justice, resilience, Indigenous sovereignty, and the colonial histories embedded in representations of Indigenous peoples. Wilson holds an MFA in Photography from the University of New Mexico. His honors include the Eiteljorg Native American Fellowship, Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Sculpture, and Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant for Photography. His Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange reimagines tintype portraiture through reciprocity and Indigenous self-representation, while Connecting the Dots for a Just Transition documents abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. Wilson is Associate Professor of Photography and Media at the University of Texas at Austin.
Artwork credit:
Will Wilson, Shiprock Disposal Site, Shiprock, Navajo Nation, 36.769690596277414 N / -108.68547605691704 W (detail), 2020. Inkjet print. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Charina Endowment Fund in memory of Robert B. Menschel, 2024.38.2. Courtesy of the artist and Diné Connect.
The Expert Series welcomes renowned artists, scholars, and cultural activators to the Museum for expansive dialogues that dive deeper into an exhibition, artist, or theme. This drop-in experience is included with Museum admission. On Thursday nights from 4 to 8 p.m., admission is pay-what-you-wish at the door, while tickets purchased online in advance are full price. The Milwaukee Art Museum is grateful to its exhibition sponsors.
Meet the experts:
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi Indian Tribe) is a fine art photographer whose work blends documentary and commercial aesthetics to create stories drawn from intertribal knowledge. Her images explore the intersections of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and futurity. Romero has presented solo exhibitions across the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, with recent group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her public art projects include #TONGVALAND in Los Angeles, Restoration: Now or Never in London, and Desert X in the Coachella Valley. Her photographs are held in major collections, including the Denver Art Museum, MoMA, LACMA, and The Met. Raised between California’s Mojave Desert and Houston, Romero is based in Santa Fe.
Dakota Mace (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work translates Diné history and beliefs through alternative photography techniques, weaving, beadwork, and papermaking. Her practice draws on her heritage to explore family lineage, community, and identity while expanding understandings of Diné culture. Mace earned her MA and MFA in Photography and Textile Design from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her BFA in Photography from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has collaborated with institutions and programs to encourage dialogue around cultural appropriation and Indigenous design. Mace is an MFA Studio Arts faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her work is included in major collections, including the Library of Congress, Whitney Museum of American Art, and National Gallery of Art.
Will Wilson is a Diné photographer and trans-customary artist whose work brings Indigenous practices into dialogue with photography, performance, installation, and technology. Raised on the Navajo Nation, his practice centers environmental justice, resilience, Indigenous sovereignty, and the colonial histories embedded in representations of Indigenous peoples. Wilson holds an MFA in Photography from the University of New Mexico. His honors include the Eiteljorg Native American Fellowship, Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Sculpture, and Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant for Photography. His Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange reimagines tintype portraiture through reciprocity and Indigenous self-representation, while Connecting the Dots for a Just Transition documents abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. Wilson is Associate Professor of Photography and Media at the University of Texas at Austin.
Artwork credit:
Will Wilson, Shiprock Disposal Site, Shiprock, Navajo Nation, 36.769690596277414 N / -108.68547605691704 W (detail), 2020. Inkjet print. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Charina Endowment Fund in memory of Robert B. Menschel, 2024.38.2. Courtesy of the artist and Diné Connect.
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Where is it happening?
700 N Art Museum Dr, Milwaukee, WI, United States, Wisconsin 53202
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherMilwaukee Art Museum
