CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, major museums in Santa Fe are turning attention toward Indigenous artists and traditions that tell a deeper, more complex story of the nation – one rooted not only in survival a n d resilience, but in sovereignty, self-representation, and living cultural expression.
The Museum of International Folk Art will open I Am Clay: Acoma Life in Figures on June 7, 2026, a community-curated exhibition devoted to the figurative pottery tradition of Acoma Pueblo. According to a museum spokesperson, the exhibit will feature more than 120 works and is the first exhibition dedicated exclusively to Acoma figurative pottery.
While Acoma pottery is widely recognized for its fine-line painting and geometric designs, this exhibition shifts the focus toward human and animal figures and scenes of daily life, offering a broader view of the community’s artistic legacy. Museum officials said the exhibition explores how Acoma artists have responded over time to family traditions, economic realities, tourism, and continuing artistic innovation.
The exhibition was community-curated by Acoma Pueblo potters Prudy Correa, Claudia Mitchell, Marilyn Ray, and Maria “Lilly” Salvador, along with cultural consultant and guest curator Brian Vallo. Organizers said the project emphasizes Indigenous voice and self-representation through artist-written texts, filmed interviews, a gallery guide, and newly commissioned works.
“This exhibit honors traditional pottery-making and celebrates the creative spirit of Acoma potters who for generations have been guided by the clay mother, molding and shaping her into the form that she chooses to become,” Vallo said in museum materials.
The exhibit is also expected to travel to the Haak’u Museum at Acoma Pueblo in February 2027, extending its reach back into the community whose artists and traditions it highlights.
Also opening in Santa Fe this spring is Stars, Stripes, and First Americans at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on May 17, 2026. That exhibition examines the evolving relationship between Indigenous peoples and the American flag, bringing together beadwork, painting, weavings, and jewelry to explore how Native artists have used the flag as a decorative motif, a sign of service, a symbol of survival, and a site of resistance.
According to the museum, the exhibition includes works by Pauline Thomas, Joanne Begaye, Teri Greeves, Mary Coriz, and Richard Kee Yazzie. Elisa Phelps, MIAC Head of Curatorial Affairs, said in exhibition materials that the American flag carries layered meanings in Native communities and becomes “a site of memory, resilience, and sovereignty” in the hands of Indigenous artists.