Kansas City, MO – The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has announced new hires in its curatorial division. Tahnee Ahtone (Kiowa/Seminole/Mvskoki) joins the museum as curator of Native American art.
“Discovering the depth and breadth of Tahnee’s experience during a national search was very gratifying,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. “We are grateful to the Mellon-Wingate Leadership in Art Museums Initiative for providing support for this key curatorial position and are excited that Tahnee has joined the museum.”
Tahnee Ahtone (Kiowa/Seminole/Mvskoki). Photo: Ann Sherman, Oklahoma City.
Ahtone, an enrolled citizen of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma and descendant of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, has an extensive background in museums and collections consulting.
Most recently, she served as director/curator at the Kiowa Tribal Museum in Carnegie, Oklahoma. Other appointments include tribal nations liaison and curator of ethnology, American Indian, and textile collections at Oklahoma History Center; director of the Curating Indigeneity Project in New York; and curator at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Connecticut.
Exhibitions Ahtone has organized include Lighting Pathways: Matriarchs of Native American Art (2024) at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum; Kiowa Creation Murals (2023–2024); and Amos Haskins: Native Whaler (2016–2017) at the Mystic Seaport Museum. She has served as an advisor and consultant for reinstallations at the Brooklyn Museum, the Gilcrease Museum, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany, and the City of Boston Public Art Commission.
Ahtone is a PhD candidate at Swansea University in Wales. She earned her ALM degree from Harvard Extension School at Harvard University and BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. She also completed the competitive Center for Curatorial Leadership Fellowship.
“I am excited to join the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where I will serve our larger community by building pathways between tribal nations and the art world,” said Ahtone. “It is important to me, and this experienced and forward-thinking team, to work together to foster relationships in Native American art with respect and humility.”
Ahtone’s family has had a long involvement with the Nelson-Atkins and many of the museum’s supporters as friends, colleagues, and artists. A cradleboard by her great-grandmother, Tahdo Ahtone (Kiowa, 1879–1961), was an early acquisition and is currently on view in the Native American Gallery. Tahnee Ahtone began work at the museum on February 19, 2024.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum also hired Rachel Kabukala as its associate curator of African art. “Tahnee’s and Rachel’s scholarship, their passion for their respective subjects, and their commitment to deep work in communities will make them wonderful additions to our team,” said Dr. William Keyse Rudolph, deputy director of curatorial affairs and chief curator of architecture, design, and decorative arts. “We look forward to sharing the invigoration that they will bring to two of our most important collections.”
Panorama of front facades, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. “Shuttlecock” by Claes Oldenburg (American, born Sweden, 1929–2022).
About the Nelson-Atkins
The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The museum opens its doors free of charge to people of all backgrounds.
The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access to its renowned collection of more than 42,000 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and Native American and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the museum is a key educational resource for the region.
Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit
Links
- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak St, Kansas City, MO| nelson-atkins.org - Curating Indigeneity with Tahnee Ahtone, podcast on Spotify | link
- Tahnee Ahtone on Hyperallergic | link
- Remembering Jay McGirt, by Tahnee Ahtone, FAAM | link
- Tahdo Ahtone Craddleboard, collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art | link
- Lighting Pathways: Matriarchs of Oklahoma Native American Art
February 16–April 28, 2024, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum | FAAM link | NC&WHM
1 Comment
Very interesting to read. I’m a big lover of native American art. I’ve collected from years myself I have lots of ties with Oklahoma. I have some pieces that belong in a museum to be shared and protected. If ever interested feel free to contact me.