IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) is dedicated to increasing public understanding and appreciation of contemporary Native art, history and culture through presentation, collection and acquisition, preservation, and interpretation. MoCNA is recognized as the preeminent organizer of exhibitions devoted exclusively to the display of dynamic and diverse arts practices representative of Native North America.
MoCNA encourages creative expression across the fields of arts and culture as an opportunity to engage, establish, foster, and cultivate in cross-cultural dialogue with communities at the local, national, and global level.
MoCNA’s exhibitions, programs, and its Collection of Contemporary Native Arts are integral to nurturing and growth of the Institute of American Indian Arts legacy, college community, and curriculum across academic and artistic disciplines.
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Upcoming Events
View upcoming events from the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA). View all event listings.
List of Events
MoCNA Docent Training Program
MoCNA is seeking candidates for its docent training program. The program will feature instruction in Native American art and the workings of a major museum that will enable successful participants to provide valuable services to visitors to the museum.
Art for a New Understanding: Native Perspectives, 1950s to Now—Opening Reception
Art for a New Understanding: Native Perspectives, 1950s to Now seeks to expand and reposition art in the U.S. and Canada since 1950. It is the first exhibition to chart the development of contemporary Indigenous art from the United States and Canada.
Art for a New Understanding: Native Perspectives, 1950s to Now—Curators + Coffee
Please join Curators Dr. Mindy N. Besaw, Candice Hopkins, and Dr. Manuela Well-Off-Man for coffee and a dynamic discussion about MoCNA’s newest exhibition Art for a New Understanding: Native Perspectives, 1950s to Now.
Exhibitions
Current and upcoming exhibitions at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA). View all exhibitions.
List of Events
Action/Abstraction Redefined
Action Abstraction Redefined features paintings and works on paper from the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) permanent collection created in the 1960s and 1970s. The artists in this exhibition challenged stereotypical expectations of Indian art by experimenting with American modern art movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Color Field and Hard-edge Painting combined with art influences from their own cultural heritage.
Rolande Souliere: Form and Content
Through the use of Ojibway, Cree, and Inuit syllabics, Souliere utilizes aspects of this writing system to engage in ideas about space, color, form, symbolism, surface movement, and language. Her new mural project is an exploration into the parallels and the multifaceted ways in which simple geometric building blocks such as chevrons, circles, and rectangles have a profound affinity with Indigenous language, culture, and abstraction in Western art.
Holly Wilson: On Turtle’s Back
Holly Wilson (Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma/Cherokee) presents her new narrative works created in a variety of media including bronze, wood, and encaustic. Her figures serve as her storytellers to the world. They often resemble stick figures or animals with human characteristics.
Latest News
The most recent news, press releases, and updates from the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA). View all news listings.
Shan Goshorn Passes Away
The contemporary art world lost an important artist over the weekend to cancer and many people lost a good friend. Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band Cherokee) was an exceptional person deeply loved by many. Shan was an Eastern Band Cherokee artist, who lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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MoCNA Volunteer and Docent Training Program
MoCNA is seeking candidates for volunteer and docent training. The program will feature instruction in Native American art and the workings of a major museum that will enable successful participants to provide valuable services to visitors to the museum.
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MoCNA Celebrates Women’s History Month
The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) recognizes Women’s History Month and honors contemporary Native and non-Native women artists, filmmakers, poets, writers, curators, art professionals, academics, and students who worked, exhibited, or presented at MoCNA in 2017.
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The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) is the country’s only museum for exhibiting, collecting and interpreting the most progressive work of contemporary Native artists.
MoCNA is dedicated solely to advancing the scholarship, discourse and interpretation of contemporary Native art for regional, national and international audiences. As such, it stewards the National Collection of Contemporary Native Art, 7,500 artworks in all media created in 1962 or later. MoCNA is at the forefront of contemporary Native art presentation and strives to be flexible, foresighted and risk-taking in its exhibitions and programs. MoCNA is located in the heart of downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico.
