The creation of Native American art is rooted in a deep understanding of cultural protocols, histories and traditions. A new exhibition that opens Saturday, November 15, 2025 at the Autry Museum of the American West, Creative Continuities: Family, Pride, and Community in Native Art, highlights selected works from the museum’s Native American collections to explore three core aspects of Native culture: Knowing, Creation and Transference.
The exhibition features three contemporary Plains artists — John Pepion (Blackfeet), Brocade Stops Black Eagle (Crow) and Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (Dakota/Nakoda) — who reflect on their connections to works made by their ancestors. Each artist curated a section of the show, selecting pieces from their communities and interpreting them through one of the exhibition’s central themes.
Museum officials say the combination of cultural objects and personal stories is intended to help visitors better understand the diversity of Native cultures, histories and traditions that span tribal boundaries and bridge past and present.
The creation of Native American art draws on deep knowledge of cultural protocols, histories, and traditions. Creative Continuities: Family, Pride, and Community in Native Art highlights selected works from the Autry’s Native American collections to examine the meanings embedded in three core aspects of Native culture: Knowing, Creation, and Transference.
Three contemporary Plains artists—John Pepion (Blackfeet), Brocade Stops Black Eagle (Crow), and Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (Dakota/Nakoda)—reflect on their connections to works made by their ancestors. Each artist curated a section of the exhibition, interpreting pieces from their communities through one of the exhibition’s central concepts.
By bringing together cultural objects and personal stories, Creative Continuities seeks to deepen visitors’ understanding of the diversity of Native American culture, history, and traditions that transcend tribal boundaries across time.