Relational Making and Social Engagement in Contemporary Native American Art

Genocide attempts to dismantle the social fabric, cultural institutions, and conceptual frameworks that bind communities together. Although the art of social engagement as a kind of response is a newer category of artistic practice, such practices have long been the norm within Native American communities. By providing opportunities for community involvement in artistic production, these works provide settings for story formation, relational making, and the foundations for repair, resilience, and resistance. Join Laura Evans, Senior Vice President of Programs at the First People's Fund, for a presentation about socially engaged large-scale art projects by Native American artists including Hospital Gown Project by Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe), Mirror Shield Project by Cannupa Hanska Luger (Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold: Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara), Overflow Radio by Emily Johnson (Yup'ik Nation), and more.

This event is part of the 2026-27 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Colloquium, “Storytelling in/as Resistance,” as well as the Human Rights and the Museum Series, a collaboration between the KHC and the Museum and Gallery Studies Program in the Art and Design Department at Queensborough Community College (QCC).

**To attend in person: In person programs take place at the KHC unless noted otherwise. Events are free and open to all, but registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). On site parking is available and for directions to QCC’s campus, please visit https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/about/index.html#gettingHere. For elevator access, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.