Exhibitions

Uncommon Legacies is a nationally-traveling exhibition of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century masterworks from the PEM Native American collections. It was co-organized by the PEM and the American Federation of Arts and is currently on tour to venues at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit celebrates the power, significance and exceptional artistic quality of one of the most important collections of early Native American art. The more than 100 works represent the distinct artistic traditions of a number of native cultures throughout North and South America, which were created during a dynamic period of interaction with non-natives beginning in the late eighteenth century. They express the worldviews, values, beliefs, and ways of being within each community, while at the same time show the creative response of Native American artists to an ever-changing world.