Unceded Garden, Amplify’s next Generator Grant exhibition organized by Unceded Artist Collective, underpins the significance of interspecies relationships to Indigenous lifeways by positioning plants as medicine, plants as sovereign, plants as nation. Working in partnership with the Indigenous garden at Joslyn Castle in Omaha, collective members Nathaniel Ruleaux, Sarah Rowe, Mi’oux Stabler, and Jennie Wilson approach the exhibition as an expression of care across dual sites.
In individual and collective actions, Unceded Artist Collective members transpose the sights, sounds, and smells of the garden onto the gallery space in video and installation work created with the plants that remediate its soil and feed its stewards. In doing so, Unceded Garden raises questions around indigenous land use and sovereignty critical to dreaming a better world for other species–and each other–into being.
The public opening of the exhibition on Friday, September 8th is free and open to all. Exhibition viewings after the opening are by appointment. Please register in Eventbrite or email peter@amplifyarts.org to schedule a time to visit outside of regular gallery appointment hours. Face masks are not required but always welcome.
* Unceded Garden includes installation work created with fresh and dried plant materials. Gallery visitors with allergies or sensitivities to pollen are encouraged to wear masks.
To mark the closing of the exhibition, Unceded Artist Collective invites volunteers to join them in the Indigenous garden at Joslyn Castle for a morning of conversation and getting dirty. Participants will be welcomed into the garden and work alongside Collective members to prepare the garden for the end of the growing season. Register here.
Exhibition Dates: September 8th - October 20th, 2023
Opening Reception: September 8th; 6pm - 9pm
Garden Volunteer Day: October 20th; 10am - 12pm (Register here)
Regular Gallery Hours: Thursdays and Fridays; 1pm - 5pm by appointment
Generator Grant programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
About the Artists:
Unceded Artist Collective is a community and directory of Indigenous artists who live and create on the unceded land of the Umónhon & Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (aka the colonized Omaha Metro). While honoring the past and fighting for the future we seek to take, create and indigenize space for our underrepresented and overlooked relatives. With similar organizations across Turtle Island, Unceded Artist Collective was created to focus on our Omaha Metro community, and the talent that has been here and is still here. Wopila
Sarah Rowe is an interdisciplinary artist based in Omaha, NE. Her work opens cross cultural dialogues by utilizing methods of painting, casting, fiber arts, performance, and Native American ceremony in unconventional ways. Rowe’s work is participatory, a call to action, and re-imagines traditional Native American symbology to fit the narrative of today’s global landscape. Rowe holds a BA in Studio Art from Webster University, studying in St. Louis, MO, and Vienna, Austria. She is of Lakota and Ponca descent.
Nathaniel Ruleaux (he/him) is an award-winning artist and culture worker currently located on unceded land of the Umónhon & Očhéthi Šakówiŋ in Nebraska. A partner, father, and member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, his work combines modern art with traditional Indigenous imagery. He is a founding member of Unceded Artist Collective. Recently, he created work for Opera Omaha’s 2023-2024 season and the national 2022 Indigenous Futures Survey. In addition to creating visual art, he is a classically-trained actor and educator. He received his MFA in Theatre from the University of Houston’s School of Theatre and Dance after receiving a BA in Theatre Performance at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre & Film at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Mi’oux Stabler is a member of the Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation whose tribal lands are located in northeast Nebraska along the banks of the Missouri River. She is a proud mother, artist, land tender, and a dedicated cultural advocate. For the past decade, her endeavors have been geared towards the revitalization of traditional languages and land stewardship practices. She has traveled extensively, but currently focuses her work in the ancestral homelands of the Umoⁿhoⁿ people.
Jennie Wilson is an artist, educator, and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Born on, and lifelong resident on the unceded land of the Umónhon & Očhéthi Šakówiŋ in Nebraska. Her work centers intergenerational learning in an ongoing exploration of traditional foodways, language, cultural practices, and artistic traditions. She is a daughter, wife, and mother who moves forward as an advocate for her family and authentic Cherokee people and knowledge. Since 2020, she has served on the board of the Kansas City Cherokee Community, a chartered chapter of the Cherokee Nation. As a team with others on the board, she has planned and hosted gatherings for Cherokee families living outside the CN to promote language, gardening, historical knowledge, crafting traditions, and provide an opportunity for citizens to be present together. Her personal artwork is made of natural materials such as clay, gourds, and corn husks. Her work is in collections of the Cherokee Nation, the Asheville Art Mus