Art Bridges and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Add Work by Contemporary Native Artists
By Chadd Scott on
A movement or a moment?
That’s the nagging question – the doubt – lingering in the back of the head of advocates for contemporary Native American art. Is the genre’s recent mainstream attention a lasting movement or a fleeting moment?
Since America’s social awakening to historic injustice in the aftermath of 2016’s Dakota Access Pipeline protests and George Floyd’s murder in 2020, contemporary Native American art’s profile has experienced a boom. Curators and museums looking to highlight stories of oppression and resistance found Native artists telling them in fresh and insightful ways.
Contemporary Native artists are being featured in group shows and receiving solo exhibitions at the nation’s most prominent museums where they were previously ignored. Museums are increasingly acquiring their work to place in permanent collections. Museums like The Met and the Whitney Museum of American Art. The tippy top. They’re receiving increased gallery and auction attention. They’re winning the country’s most prestigious awards.
But is contemporary Native art simply the flavor of the month? Not among its stalwart devotees, among the wider art world? Can – will – contemporary Native American art maintain its mainstream momentum?
All indications are “yes.”
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (b. 1940), ‘Blackwater Draw II,’ ca. 1983, acrylic with mixed media on canvas, 49 x 37 in. Courtesy Art Bridges.
Something happening once is news, twice a coincidence, and three times a trend. This summer alone, “Essential West” has highlighted a trend of contemporary Native American artists receiving major national recognition. These stories have focused only on Native artists from Western tribes. Their colleagues from the southeastern and Woodland tribes and Native Alaskans have had their own successes.
Another log was thrown on this fire when the Art Bridges Foundation and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR announced their acquisition of 90 contemporary Indigenous artworks from the John and Susan Horseman Collection earlier in July. The Collection includes renowned and emerging contemporary western Native artists including Tyrell Tapaha (b. 2001; Diné), Oscar Howe (1915-1983; Yanktonai Dakota), Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (1940-2025; Cree, Shoshone, and Salish), Rick Bartow (1946-2016; Wiyot), James Lavadour (b. 1951; Walla Walla), Emmi Whitehorse (b. 1957; Navajo), Brad Kahlhamer (b. 1956), Cannupa Hanska Luger (b. 1979; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation), Rose B. Simpson (b. 1983; Khaʼpʼoe Ówîngeh), Fritz Scholder (1937-2005; Luiseño), and T.C. Cannon (1946-1978; Kiowah, Caddo). The works span a wide range of media, ranging from sculpture to painting, print, and textiles.
Why is this such a big deal? Because Art Bridges and Crystal Bridges are two of the most powerful new forces in American art. They are shaping the future American art.
Since opening in 2011, Crystal Bridges, where admission is free, has welcomed more than 14 million visitors. The collection spans five centuries of American masterworks. The museum, despite its recent founding, established itself as one of the premiere institutions for American art from inception. The biggest development in American art museology in a century.
Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), ‘Indian Rug #5,’ 1973, acrylic on canvas. 80 x 68 in. Courtesy Art Bridges.
Art Bridges creates and supports projects sharing works of American art with communities across the United States and its territories. Art Bridges, founded in 2017, partners with a growing network of over 250 museums of all sizes—impacting more than 20 million people nationwide—providing financial and strategic support for exhibitions, collection loans, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local communities. Art Bridges was established to bring great American art to the American people, regardless of where they live.
Both were established by arts patron, philanthropist, and Walmart heir Alice Walton. Price was no obstacle. The best of the best of everything. Walmart’s corporate headquarters are based in Bentonville which explains Crystal Bridges’ seemingly unusual location.
Art Bridges acquired 81 artworks from the Horseman Collection which will now be accessible as long-term loans to museums across the U.S., free of charge. This landmark acquisition makes one third of the Art Bridges Collection contemporary Indigenous art.
Nine works from the Horseman Collection have also been gifted directly to Crystal Bridges.
“We have always believed that these Indigenous creatives belong in the canon of American Art,” John Horseman, namesake of The Horseman Foundation, said. “This is art that should be seen and artists that should be known.”
Since founding their collection in 2012, Susan and John Horseman have centered their efforts on uplifting historically underrepresented artists. Susan Horseman, in particular, was an early and passionate advocate for Native American artists such as Scholder. The Horseman Foundation's collaboration with Art Bridges and Crystal Bridges grew out of their appreciation for Art Bridges' commitment to sharing artworks around the country and expanding access to American art.
Dyani White Hawk (b. 1976), ‘Tapun Sa Win,’ 2017, acrylic, smoked buckskin, vintage beads, porcupine quills, thread on canvas. 48 x 36 in. Courtesy Art Bridges.
"Indigenous perspectives are foundational to any American art collection," Ashley Holland, Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives at Art Bridges Foundation, said.
True. But that’s always been true, and it didn’t stop museums, curators, and collectors from ignoring contemporary Native American art for more than 100 years.
I’m reminded of something Bob Haozous (b. 1943; Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache) told me. I was interviewing him for a story about his 2025 retrospective at Phoenix’s Heard Museum. Haozous, son of legendary sculptor Allan Hauser, well remembers when contemporary Native American art was treated like a gimmick. A sideshow. Disrespected.
“Back in the 70s, I went to a show and all the big artists were there dressed in their so-called Native paraphernalia,” Haozous remembers. “I just went in my Levi's and my shirt because that's how I dress, and (the gallery) wouldn't send me any travel pay because I didn't wear my Native costume. That was common. That's the way it was at that time.”
Haozous’ expenses were eventually paid by the gallery, but not without badgering them.
One tiny anecdote representing how far contemporary Native American art has come.
Progress Haozous is skeptical of. He doesn’t think contemporary Native art has achieved mainstream status. He still thinks all the exhibitions and attention are tokens. Not real change, table scraps. Table scraps given by outsiders. A market looking to capitalize on a moment.
I hope he’s wrong. I believe he is.
I see furhter evidence behind the scenes supporting the rise in prominence of contemporary Native American art as a movement more than a moment.
Museums are increasingly hiring curators for their Native American collections. Specialists making sure their Native artworks don’t languish unseen in storage. Typically, those curators are Native themselves, putting Native voices in management circles and decision-making positions they’d previously been absent from. Crystal Bridges’ Curator of Indigenous Art is a Native woman.
First and foremost, however, is the work. The artwork being produced by contemporary Native artists stands out amongst their peers. I look and write about art for a living and will testify that the work holds up. This newfound attention isn’t charity. It’s deserved. Hard earned. Hard earned off the backs of previous generations of contemporary Native artists from potters and weaver and painters from the 19th century and before whose work also held up, but was ignored or marginalized as “ethnographic.”
Native Americans have always produced superior contemporary art. It just hasn’t always been recognized that way by outsiders. Now it has, now it is, and the movement isn’t going backward.
