Pick2-MoCNA
Regular SFR readers will no doubt be aware we’ve got it bad for the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. The museum has particularly shined throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with Senior Manager of Museum Education Winoka Yepa (Diné) both developing a phone app and digitizing entire exhibits within the ArtSteps app, and that’s not even mentioning the ongoing artist residency opportunities—including its most recent with Anna Tsouhlarakis (Diné/Greek/Creek) and Eric-Paul Riege (Diné)—and exhibits.
Now, however, it seems like the rest of the world is finally catching on to the MoCNA magic, and USA Today’s 10best.com readers’ poll website has named the Santa Fe institution the third-best art museum in the country.
“As an agent of change and a place of discourse, MoCNA exemplifies the power of museums to bring awareness to issues facing Indigenous Peoples and to challenge misperceptions of contemporary Indigenous arts,” Director Patsy Phillips (Cherokee Nation) says in a news release. “To receive this recognition is particularly special as we are a small dedicated staff working ceaselessly to advance contemporary Indigenous arts and cultures in all we do.”
MoCNA had stiff competition, too, including such prestigious museums as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas (which ranked fifth), the Detroit Institute of Arts (sixth) and even the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which came in 10th). Founded in 1972 through Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts, MoCNA has long been one of the finest places to see big name Indigenous artists from across the country and the globe, alongside newer works from up-and-comers, student artists and outsider creators. It moved into its current downtown space in 1992 and has hosted countless shows since then. MoCNA has five concurrent exhibits, including Experimental Expression: Printmaking at IAIA, 1963-1980, The Moving Land: 60+ Years of Art by Linda Lomahaftewa and others running through the summer and the year.
“We’re very excited here to be selected by the USA Today readers and our visitors,” Phillips tells SFR. “That they have selected us over other really great museums...we didn’t apply for this, but the bottom line is that it comes down to: Our staff works really hard, and i’m just very pleased the staff is getting the recognition they deserve.”
This isn’t even the museum’s only accolade of late. Last September, the Ford Foundation named MoCNA one of America’s Cultural Treasures, an honor that came with a sizable grant dedicated to funding Black, Indigenous and other BIPOC artists.
