KALAMAZOO—October 1, 2026
Join us on Saturday, October 3, 10am–1pm at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts for an in depth conversation featuring three contemporary Indigenous artists from across the country as they come together to discuss their artistic approaches, points of inspiration, and visions for the future.
Guest Speakers include Dakota Mace (Diné), Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Kelly Church (Pottawatomi/Ottawa/Ojibwe).
Mace’s work focuses on translating the language of Diné history and beliefs while pushing the viewer’s understanding of Diné culture through alternative photography techniques, weaving, beadwork, and papermaking.
Photographer Cara Romero uses contemporary techniques to depict the modernity of Native peoples, illuminating Indigenous worldviews and aspects of supernaturalism in everyday life.
Kelly Church is a black ash basket maker, a fiber artist, and a strong advocate for the survival of Native traditions through her work in educating the public about the endangered black ash tree.
The panel conversation and Q&A will be moderated by Shonda Buchanan, WMU professor and author of Black Indian.
Ticket Prices:
KIA Members – $15
Not Yet Members – $20
College students – $5 (with ID)
Purchase your tickets here!
Galleries open at 11am. Admission is included with the price of program attendance.
Schedule of Events:
10:00–11:50am — Artists’ talks
11:50am–12:15pm — Independent gallery exploration
12:15–1:00pm — Panel conversation and Q&A
Light refreshments will be provided.
Works On View By the Artists
Mace’s multimedia piece Tsin Bigaan (Branches) and Romero’s photographic print Arla Lucia are on view in the exhibition For the People, By the People: America at 250, Church’s woven black ash piece Every Dawn is a New Day is currently on view in our permanent collection galleries.
Last Chance to See For the People, By the People: America at 250
Through October 4, 2026
For the People, By the People: America at 250 reflects on America’s enduring ties to liberty, justice, and identity. Drawing inspiration from the democratic ideals articulated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” this exhibition considers how the promise of freedom has been expressed, questioned, and reevaluated across generations.
Using four core themes: pursuit of liberty and fight for visibility; patriotism, war, US iconography, and disillusionment; American labor and ambition; and reckoning with U.S. history and envisioning its future, For the People, By the People brings together artworks from the KIA’s collection and loans of bold contemporary voices to examine the symbols, struggles, and aspirations that shaped and continue to inform American life.
Spanning photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and installation-based works, this exhibition juxtaposes notable artists such as Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Alfred Stieglitz, Hank Willis Thomas, and Andy Warhol with rising artists like Erica Lord, Julio Cesar Morales, and Cara Romero, among many others.
Simultaneously celebratory and contemplative, this exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the United States of America’s founding principles and our current lived realities.
For the People, By the People closes on Sunday, October 4 at 4pm.
About the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Founded in 1924, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) is a nationally accredited art museum and community art school that brings people together through creativity, learning, and shared experience. Each year, more than 100,000 visitors explore 10–15 rotating exhibitions across the museum’s 10 galleries, drawn from a permanent collection of more than 4,600 works spanning American, European, Asian, and contemporary art.
Beyond the galleries, the KIA is a place where art is not only viewed but made. The Kirk Newman Art School (KNAS) welcomes more than 3,400 enrollments annually, offering hands-on instruction in ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, drawing and painting, printmaking, fiber, photography, glass fusing, and enrichment programs for all ages. Students learn directly from professional artists and educators in a dynamic, studio-based environment.
The museum campus also includes a multi-media auditorium, a publicly accessible art library, an interactive children’s gallery, and the KIA Gallery Shop featuring work by local, regional, and international artists.
Through exhibitions, education, and community partnerships, the KIA serves as a cultural anchor for Southwest Michigan — a place where art sparks curiosity, strengthens connection, and inspires new ways of seeing. Learn more at kiarts.org.