Doctoral Student Nancy Fields Curates Major Exhibit at North Carolina Museum of Art

Doctoral student Nancy Fields took an unusual internship: curating a major exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Art. To Take Shape and Meaning: Form and Design in Contemporary American Indian Art (March 2–July 28, 2024) started with Fields’ lifelong interest in the role of art in Native history, identity formation, and community well-being. As Director of the Museum of the Southeast American Indian and member of the Lumbee nation, she has been at the center of American Indian cultural and historical programming in North Carolina for many years, but this exhibit was a new direction for both the curator and the museum. It is the first major show of American Indian art in North Carolina and will be the centerpiece of Fields’ dissertation exploring the role of art in interpreting American Indian history at museums and historic sites.

Fields worked for two years curating the exhibit, bringing together the work of 75 Native artists from across the nation. The exhibit shows the continuities, changes, and diversity of form and material in American Indian art. As curator, she invited artists, wrote labels, oversaw design and production, and with Rose Bean Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo) and Stephen Fadden (Mohawk) co-authored the exhibit catalogue. The result is a brilliant collection of 3D works from noted artists including Jeffrey Gibson, Marcus Amerman, Keri Ataumbi, Martha Berry, Tom Farris, Anita Fields, Raven Halfmoon, Allan Houser, Steven Paul Judd, Senora Lynch, Jamie Okuma, Virgil Ortiz, Rose B. Simpson, Preston Singletary, Roxanne Swentzell, Marie Watt, and Margaret Roach Wheeler. 

“Beyond the commanding aesthetic of the collective works of art, this exhibit shares a distinct understanding about Native American people and culture, but also explores the individuality of each artist and their passions expressed in their work. Importantly, the art reveals the vast diversity of Native America,” noted Fields. 

Nancy Fields will be hosting a roundtable discussion with artists Teri Greeves and Keri Ataumbi on Saturday, April 13 at 1pm and “Meet the Curator” events at the exhibit on April 20 and May 18, both from 1:00-2:00pm. For more information about these curator talks, visit the North Carolina Museum of Art Events Calendar