We Were, We Are is intended to be a community exhibition presented in recognition of Indigenous Peoples and Native American Heritage Month. The theme seeks to recognize the Indigenous nations and peoples of the Americas both in the past and today. We Were speaks to the present-day relevance of history, culture, and knowledge. We Are affirms contemporary Indigenous identity as alive, vibrant, and self-determined. Together, we hope these joint themes provide artists with space for full and authentic expression. For this reason, the theme is offered as an open proposition rather than a definition. Gallery 1701 understands that there is no single Indigenous identity, aesthetic, or experience. Artists are not expected to represent an entire Nation or community, explain their identity for an audience, disclose culturally sensitive knowledge, or focus on any specific theme. Instead, artists are invited to embrace, question, or reinterpret the theme through their own practices and relationships with themselves and to family, community, Nation, land, language, memory, and even future generations.

To learn more and apply, view the application below: