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Delaware Art Museum
Wilmington, DE
Highlighting Indigenous creativity and cultural practices, the museum’s Powwow of Arts and Culture expanded upon its local partnerships with intertribal community groups for in-gallery interpretation of “Will Wilson: In Conversation.” Co-planned with the Nanticoke Indian Association, the event featured performances, vendors, and hands-on art projects. Youth and elders who participated in a drum circle and powwow dance hailed from the Nanticoke, Lenape, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, Lumbee, Arawak, and Aztec communities. An arts market featuring Indigenous vendors also gave audiences the opportunity to directly interact with and support local makers.
The Delaware Art Museum’s goal for public programming related to this exhibition was to build sustainable, mutual relationships with local Native communities by engaging community partners in the design and presentation of gallery and event interpretation. To develop these relationships, the museum hoped to collaborate with at least 12 Indigenous community members and welcome around 750 visitors, the average attendance for an event of this scale.
In addition to hosting public programs that emphasized local Indigenous voices, museum staff traveled across the state to join their collaborators’ community events and powwows. Fifty Indigenous community members were involved in the event, with more participating as vendors in the arts market, and the museum welcomed 730 visitors. The powwow has since become an annual event with the Nanticoke Indian Association and individual Indigenous partners serving as continued collaborators.
The Delaware Art Museum created partnerships with many local tribal associations, and they were viewed as planning collaborators, not just day-of performers. Consider engaging collaborators early in the planning process and involving multiple Indigenous perspectives. In partnering with local tribes, this event offered a place of gathering and intercultural learning for Native participants to meet other Indigenous peoples and for non-Native audiences to discover the diversity within Indigenous identities. Feedback from the tribal collaborators highlighted how the opportunity to publicly represent their identities motivated families who were separated by distance to meet at the museum and take part in the event.
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art hosted Chef Sean Sherman, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe who led a workshop on foraging and cooking with at-risk youth followed by a discussion over the prepared dinner.
Dancing Earth’s performance showcased a diverse range of Indigenous contemporary dance and connected the visual and performing arts to reach a broad audience.
This program combined the performing arts with a discussion of the artistic process behind crafting a traditional jingle dress.
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art hosted Chef Sean Sherman, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe who led a workshop on foraging and cooking with at-risk youth followed by a discussion over the prepared dinner.
Dancing Earth’s performance showcased a diverse range of Indigenous contemporary dance and connected the visual and performing arts to reach a broad audience.
This program combined the performing arts with a discussion of the artistic process behind crafting a traditional jingle dress.