This section of the exhibition grounds the project and serves as the conceptual heart around which the other areas radiate. The myriad artworks on display underscore Indigenous ecological knowledge of diverse types, which have modeled care, respect, and protection of the land for millennia. Indeed, the understanding that life forms belong to and coexist with the natural world is a foundational aspect of Indigenous thought and precedes concepts of ecofeminism, environmentalism, and sustainability. Listening to and extending Indigenous ecological practice and experience is vital for the future well-being of life on Earth. As artist Rose B. Simpson has stated, “We are on a precipice right now, and everything we do will impact the land.” The exhibition endeavors to inspire audiences to envision that edge and carefully navigate away from it. Jeffrey Gibson’s mural The Land Is Speaking, Are You Listening? inspires the title of this section, which features over fifty First Nations artists from Australia, the United States, Canada, and South America.

This section is part of the exhibition INTO THE TIME HORIZON.

This special exhibition features highlights from the personal collection of Judith Lowry (Mountain Maidu/Pit River/Washoe), an accomplished Native American artist and enrolled member of the Pit River Tribe, who recently donated over 125 artworks to the Nevada Museum of Art.

Assembled over many decades by Lowry and her husband Brad Croul, the Lowry & Croul Collection of Contemporary Native American Art includes paintings by prominent Native American contemporary artists with a West Coast and Great Basin focus.

The collection contains works by some of the West Coast’s most noted Native American artists, including paintings by Harry Fonseca (Nisenan Maidu/Hawaiian/Portuguese), Frank LaPena (Nomptipon Wintu), and Frank Day (Konkow Maidu). Important and rare story paintings by Dalbert Castro (Maidu) are also included, along with works by Jean LaMarr (Northern Paiute/Pit River) and George Longfish (Seneca and Tuscarora). An exceptional selection of photography by Lowry’s cousin Dugan Aguilar (Northern Paiute/Maidu/Pit River) is included, as well as many traditional beaded and woven works by Lorena Gorbet (Mountain Maidu), Shiwaya Peck (Maidu), and Tiffany Adams (Chemehuevi/Koyoomk’awi/Nisenan).

This exhibition is presented in conjunction with The Art of Judith Lowry.

This exhibition is co-curated by Melissa Melero-Moose (Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe) and Ann M. Wolfe, the Museum’s Andrea and John C. Deane Family Chief Curator and Associate Director. 

Free admission for Tribal Communities

Major Sponsors
Judy and David Collins
Friends of Nevada Museum of Art
Sandy Raffealli | Mini of Reno

Sponsors
San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority
Phil and Jennifer Satre

Supporting Sponsors
Kathie Bartlett
Betsy Burgess and Tim Bailey
Yvonne Murphy, PhD and Murray Mackenzie
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians

In her large-scale and colorful paintings, Judith Lowry (Mountain Maidu/Pit River/Washoe) chronicles the stories of her family and the legends, traditions, and complexities of her Indigenous ancestry. Born to a Euro-Australian mother, and a father who traced his roots to Native Northern California and Scots-Irish cultures, Lowry’s works reflect the Indigenous creation stories her father shared. She considers her paintings a modern extension of storytelling and a way of recording the oral histories of her family and community.

This retrospective exhibition features Lowry’s paintings alongside a concurrent exhibition featuring highlights from Lowry’s personal art collection that she recently donated to the Nevada Museum of Art. The conversations that unfold in Lowry’s paintings and the work of her friends and colleagues represent a lifetime of dialogue about ideas and issues that have shaped her life.

Lowry earned her B.A. in fine art from Humboldt State University, followed by an M.A. in painting and drawing from Chico State University. A resident of both Nevada City and Susanville, CA, and is an enrolled member of the federally recognized Pit River Tribe.

Lowry’s work has been exhibited widely and her paintings are included in the permanent collections of major museums including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; the Peabody Essex Museum; the Crocker Art Museum; the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, the Denver Art Museum, and the Nevada Museum of Art.

This exhibition is co-curated by Melissa Melero-Moose (Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe) and Ann M. Wolfe, the Museum’s Andrea and John C. Deane Family Chief Curator and Associate Director. 

Free admission for Tribal Communities

Major Sponsors
Judy and David Collins
Friends of Nevada Museum of Art
Sandy Raffealli | Mini of Reno

Sponsors
San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority
Phil and Jennifer Satre

Supporting Sponsors
Kathie Bartlett
Betsy Burgess and Tim Bailey
Yvonne Murphy, PhD and Murray Mackenzie
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians