Indigenous art. Indigenous perspectives.
First American Art Magazine

Ancestral, historical & living arts by Indigenous peoples of the Americas

About Us

Publishing Editor

America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) is an educator, author, artist, and independent curator, whose curatorial practice spans three decades. She serves on the First Americans Museum collections and acquisitions committee and the Cherokee Arts and Humanities Council board. Meredith taught early Native American art history at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Cherokee art history at the Cherokee Humanities class, and art history at Santa Fe Community College. She earned her MFA degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and her BFA from the University of Oklahoma. She managed Ahalenia Studios, an alternative art space in Santa Fe from 2009 to 2016.

Literary Editor

Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD, is the curator and head of collections at the Glenhyrst Art Gallery, in Brantford, Ontario. Smith is a prolific writer and previously served as a sessional instructor of curatorial studies in the Department of Visual Studies, University of Toronto, Mississauga.

Board of Advisors

Miranda Belarde-Lewis, PhD (Zuni/Tlingit), is an assistant professor, the inaugural Jill and Joe McKinstry Endowed Faculty Fellow of Native North American Indigenous Knowledge at the University of Washington’s Information School. She’s also an independent curator who works with artists and tribal, state, federal and international institutions and organizations to promote Native artists and their work | mirandabelardelewis.com

Roy Boney Jr. (Cherokee Nation) | royboneyart.com

Emily Haozous, PhD, RN (Chiricahua Fort Sill Apache), is an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing. She received her nursing training and doctoral degree at Yale University. Passionate about American Indian health, she links Indigenous methodologies to intervention research in an effort to improve cancer outcomes in Native people. Dr. Haozous is the granddaughter of Allan Houser, one of the most celebrated American Indian artists of the 20th century and daughter of Bob Haozous, a renowned sculptor.

Nadia Jackinsky, PhD (Alutiiq) | The CIRI Foundation

Linda Lomahaftewa (Hopi/Choctaw) is a painter and printmaker who has exhibited and traveled throughout the world, including recent exhibitions in New Zealand, China, Russia, and England. She teaches studio arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She earned her MFA degree from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Leah Mata Fragua (Northern Chumash) | leahmata.com

Anya Montiel, PhD (Mestiza/Tohono O’odham descent) | anyamontiel.wordpress.com

Denise Neil, PhD (Delaware Tribe/Cherokee Nation) is the executive director of the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City | LinkedIn

Neebinnaukzhik Southall (Rama Chippewa) | website

Mary Jo Watson, PhD (Seminole Nation), is Director Emeritus and Regents’ Professor of Art History at the School of Art and Art History of the University of Oklahoma. She earned her BFA in Art History, MLS in Seminole Aesthetics, and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. Watson’s curatorial practice spans decades. She serves on the Seminole Tribal Arts Council and several Native art committees including at the Oklahoma History Center and American Indian Cultural Center and Museum. Dr. Watson developed the current Native Art History Program at the University of Oklahoma.

India Young, PhD, decided, somewhere between her Alaskan home, her New York college education, and peace riots in La Paz, art best expresses activism. She returned to school to learn the practice of sharing her passions. Today, she is a doctoral candidate in art history at the University of New Mexico and an independent curator. Young researches print media, contemporary Indigenous arts, and activist art. Her curatorial pursuits focus on the spaces of interconnection between Indigenous arts and the larger world.

Regional Representatives

  • Great Basin: Melissa Melero-Moose (Northern Paiute/Modoc)
  • Great Plains: Jackie Sevier (Northern Arapaho)
  • Northeast: Kelly Church (Gun Lake Pottawatomi/Ottawa/Ojibwe)
  • Northwest: Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi, PhD (Alutiiq)
  • Southeast: Michole Eldred (Catawba/Eastern Cherokee descent)
  • Southwest: Holly Coonsis (Zuni) and RoseMary Diaz (Santa Clara Pueblo)

Support

Contributing Writers

We are grateful to the talented writers, photographers, designers, and artists making First American Art possible. Some of our regular contributors include:

  • RoseMary Diaz (Santa Clara Tewa)
  • Andrea Ferber, PhD | LinkedIn
  • Suzanne Newman Fricke, Ph.D. (Ashkenazic-American) | profile
  • Staci Golar (Cornish-Welsh-American) | profile
  • Jean Merz-Edwards (Irish-German-American), MA | LinkedIn
  • Paul Niemi | Instagram #uptownpaulie
  • Nadia Jackinsky, PhD (Alutiiq) | The CIRI Foundation
  • Matthew Ryan Smith, Ph.D. | LinkedIn
  • Christopher W. Smith | LinkedIn
  • Thollem | website
  • Yvonne N. Tiger (Seminole/Cherokee/Muscogee) | LinkedIn